ISTANBUL (Today’s Zaman) — An explosion believed to have been caused by a suicide bombing rocked Istanbul’s central Sultanahmet Square, a major tourist attraction, on Tuesday, January 12, leaving 10 people dead and 15 wounded. Officials said most of those killed were German nationals.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack appears to have been carried out by a “Syrian-origin” suicide bomber.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that all of those killed in the attack are foreign nationals. He also said that the suicide bomber is a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The Dogan news agency reported that the suicide bomber has been identified as Saudi Arabian-born Nabil Fadli.
Kurtulmus also said that in a separate statement that the suicide bomber is thought to have recently crossed into Turkey from Syria and was not on Turkey’s watch list of suspected militants.
Ambulances rushed to the site, which is close to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, ferrying away the wounded as police cordoned off streets.
