A suicide bomber believer to be linked to ISIS has killed at least 10 people, all foreign tourists mostly from Germany, in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet square on Tuesday. The suicide bomber has been identified as a 27 year old Syrian national, who had previously attempted to gain asylum in the country.
In the aftermath of the attacks, the Turkish government has detained 68 suspected members of the Islamic State jihadist group including three Russians, although the raids were not explicitly connected to the bombing.
Sixty-five people were detained in raids in Ankara; Izmir on the Aegean; the Syrian border town of Kilis; Sanliurfa close to Syria; Mersin on the Mediterranean; and the southern city of Adana, the Anatolia.
In Ankara, the authorities detained 16 people who were suspected of planning a major attack in the capital. The 21 people detained in Sanliurfa were said to be planning an attack at an unspecified location in Turkey. In Antalya three more suspected Russian citizens connected with Daesh were also arrested, a fact confirmed by the Russian embassy in Turkey.
