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| Rescue services and ambulances rush to the scene of explosions near the Besiktas football club stadium after attacks in Istanbul, Dec 10, 2016.(AP Photo/Halit Onur Sandal) |
ISTANBUL — Turkey declared a national day of mourning Sunday after twin blasts in Istanbul killed 38 people and wounded 155 others near a soccer stadium — the latest large-scale assault to traumatize a nation confronting an array of security threats.
The bombs Saturday night targeted police officers, killing 30 of them along with seven civilians and an unidentified person, Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters Sunday. He said 13 people had been arrested in connection with the "terrorist attack."
We have once again witnessed tonight in Istanbul the ugly face of terror which tramples on every value and decency
Recep Tayyip Erdogan , Turkish President
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim ordered flags to fly at half-staff Sunday across the country and at Turkey's foreign missions.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but two officials said suspicions were focused on Kurdish militants.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told the private news channel CNN Turk that "arrows point to the PKK." He was referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has waged a decades-long insurgency. That preliminary assessment was echoed by the interior minister.
"We have once again witnessed tonight in Istanbul the ugly face of terror which tramples on every value and decency," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Soylu said 136 people remained hospitalized after the attack, including 14 under intensive care.
The first and larger explosion took place about 7:30 pm after the home team Besiktas beat visitor Bursaspor 2-1 in the Turkish Super League. Erdogan said the timing of the attack aimed to maximize the loss of life and vowed the nation would overcome terrorism.
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| Rescue and medics carry a wounded person after attacks in Istanbul, Dec 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Cansu Alkaya) |
The civilian death toll was lower because fans had already left the newly built Vodafone Arena Stadium after the soccer match when the blasts occurred. Witnesses also heard gunfire after the explosions.
Soylu said the first explosion was caused by a passing vehicle that detonated in an area where police special forces were located at the stadium exit. A riot police bus appears to have been the target.
Turkish officials said a person who had been stopped in nearby Macka Park committed suicide by triggering explosives moments later.
Authorities have determined that about 300-400 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack, Kurtulmus told CNN Turk.
Forensic experts in white uniforms worked overnight, scouring the vicinity of the stadium and the vast park where the suicide bombing took place. Glass from the blown-out windows of nearby buildings littered the pavement.
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| Turkish forensic police officers work next to bodies front of a water cannon vehicle on the site where a car bomb exploded near the stadium of football club Besiktas in central Istanbul on Dec 10, 2016. (OZAN KOSE / AFP) |
