As many as 50 people were killed and 60 more injured, with six of them in critical condition, in a gun and suicide bomb attack on Istanbul Ataturk Airport in Turkey on Tuesday, the Associated Press quoted a senior Turkish official as saying.
While AFP is reporting that two explosions rocked the airport, Turkish news agency TRT quoted governor Sahin as saying there were a total of three explosions carried out by three attackers. Turkey’s justice minister also said that one of the attackers opened fire with a Kalashnikov before detonating his bomb.
Police opened fire on the attackers in an attempt to stop them before reaching a security checkpoint at the arrivals hall of the airport but the attackers blew themselves up, Reuters quoted Turkish officials as saying.
The suicide bombers all died in the attack but it remains unclear whether they are included in the death toll.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility; however, Turkish media is reporting that police believe the Islamic State is behind the attack.
All flights leaving from and arriving at the airport have been suspended.
Tuesday’s bombing is the latest in a series of attacks in Turkey. In January, a large explosion rocked the Sultanahmet Square in central Istanbul. The following month, 28 people were killed and another 61 were injured in a car explosion targeting a convoy of military vehicles in the Turkish capital city of Ankara. In March, another explosion near a bus stop in Ankara claimed 37 lives, with a Kurdish militant group claiming responsibility for the attack.
In October 2015, two large explosions in Ankara killed at least 30 people and injured dozens. The blasts targeted a peace rally that was calling for an end to violence between Turkish forces and the PKK, the Kurdish separatist group.
This story is developing.
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