The city of Istanbul was rocked today by a deadly explosion on its busiest street, Istiklal Avenue.in a “heinous attack” as reported by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with the Turkish authorities are talking about a female kamikaze bomber as the perpetrator of the attack.
According to the last official count given by the authorities at around 20:00 (local and Greek time), six people were killed and 81 injured.
The Turkish metropolis has been the target of several attacks in 2016 and 2017.
Nightclub shootings
On January 1, 2017, 39 people, including 27 foreigners, were killed and 79 others were injured in a shooting in Reinaan upscale nightclub in Istanbul.
An assailant armed with an assault rifle opened fire on the New Year crowd. The assailant ran away.
Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack. After a massive manhunt, an Uzbek, Abdulkadir Masaripov, is captured. He admits to being the perpetrator of the massacre, but changes his confession during his trial in February 2019.
In September 2020, he is sentenced to 40 life terms, one life term for each of the 39 dead and one more for the massacre.
Double attack near Besiktas stadium
On December 10, 2016, a double attack near Besiktas football team’s stadium leaves 47 deadincluding 39 police officers and 160 injured.
Most of the victims are killed by the explosion of explosives that were planted in a vehicle that was parked near a group of police officers who had been deployed for a football match. Seconds later, a kamikaze bomber detonates the explosives he planted in the middle of another group of police officers.
The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), a radical Kurdish organization linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), claimed responsibility for the attack.
In May 2019, 14 suspects were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Triple suicide bombing at Ataturk Airport
On June 28, 2016, a triple suicide attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport kills 45 people, including 19 foreigners, and injured 163. Three kamikaze bombers opened fire on the terminal before detonating the explosives.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it has been attributed to Islamic State
Chechen Akhmed Chatayev, suspected of being the mastermind of the attack, will be killed during an anti-terrorist operation in November 2017 in Tbilisi, Georgia, according to Georgian security services.
In November 2018, six alleged Islamic State jihadists were sentenced to life in prison for their role in the attack.
Car bombing of police bus
Son 7 June 2016, 12 people, including six police officers, were killed and 36 injured in a car bomb attack. The target of the attack is a police bus in Beyazit, a historic district of Istanbul.
The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks claimed responsibility for the attack.
Suicide bombing in Istiklal
On March 19, 2016, a suicide bomber attack on the famous Istiklal pedestrian and shopping avenue kills four foreign tourists, three Israelis and one Iranian. Another 39 people, including 24 tourists, are injured.
Authorities attribute the attack to Islamic State.
Suicide bombing in Sultanahmet
On January 12, 2016, a suicide bomber detonates his explosives in the middle of a group of German tourists, killing 12 of them and injuring 15.
The attack took place in the Sultanahmet district, a few hundred meters from Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, two of the city’s most popular monuments.
Turkish authorities say the bomber is a 28-year-old Syrian man who is a member of Islamic State, but the jihadist group has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack. In January 2018, three alleged accomplices of the attacker were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Source: News Beast
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