Istanbul nightclub attacker fought for IS in Syria'

Istanbul: The Turkish police on Tuesday released photographs of the suspect who went on a rampage in Istambul’s plush Reina nightclub on New Year’s night, saying he had fought in Syria for the ISIS.

Along with the images, including one taken by security cameras on the night of the attack, a chilling video of the suspect taken near the Taksim Square in central Istanbul was also released, showing him clicking his photographs with a selfie stick and smiling faintly into the camera. It was not made immediately clear how the footage had been obtained.

Several media outlets, citing unnamed security sources, said the man was believed to be from a Central Asian nation and may have been part of the same cell that staged a June attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport that killed 45 people.

Haber Turk newspaper said the man is thought to be a member of China’s Muslim Uighur minority. Without citing a source, the newspaper said he had arrived in the Turkish city of Konya with his wife and two children in order not to raise suspicions. His family members have been detained, the newspaper said.

The ISIS on Monday claimed the massacre — the first time it has clearly stated being behind a major attack in Turkey. In a statement circulated on social media, the ISIS said one of the “soldiers of the caliphate” had carried out the Reina shooting. It accused Turkey, a Muslim-majority country, of being a servant of Christians and that the attack was in response to Turkey’s military intervention against the jihadists in war-ravaged Syria.

The Hurriyet daily said the attacker showed signs of being well trained in the use of arms and had fought for the ISIS in Syria.

Hurriyet’s well-connected columnist Abdulkadir Selvi said the attacker had been identified, with investigators focusing on the idea that he was from Central Asia.

Mr Selvi said the attacker, who was armed with a long-barrelled weapon, had allegedly been “specially selected” to carry out the shooting as he was trained in street fighting in residential areas in Syria.

According to Hurriyet, he had used these techniques in the attack, shooting from the hip rather than as a sniper. Just 28 bullets failed to hit a target, the newspaper said.

Turkish police have intensified their search for the attacker who sprayed 120 bullets on guests at an Istanbul nightclub, leaving 39 dead. Several raids have been conducted and 12 have been arrested. Of the 39 deceased, 27 were foreigners, including two Indians.

Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday that the authorities had obtained fingerprint data about the gunman and expressed hope that he would be “speedily” identified.