Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militia has claimed responsibility for the bloody attack on Istanbul’s Reina nightclub. Police suspect that the ISIS attacker could be around 25 years old and hailed from either Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, or the Xinjiang region of Western China.
Around 700 people were celebrating the New Year at the nightclub when, at 1:30 a.m. on January 1, the lone gunman with an assault rifle shot unarmed security guards and entered the premises, shooting and killing 39 patrons, including 15 foreigners. Sixty-five others were wounded.
The attack did not come as a surprise though. Some 25,000 police officers were on duty and patrolling the streets in Istanbul to guard against a possible terror attack. This followed intelligence inputs that the ISIS was preparing attacks on nightclubs or parties in Istanbul, the capital city of Ankara, or other major Turkish cities. The Police had stepped up vigil and detained as many as 147 suspects of whom at least 63 are said to be 63 ISIS members. Eight ISIS members were detained in Ankara while planning an attack on New Year’s Eve, according to Interior Ministry.
ISIS hailed the horrific attack in a statement. It said: “In continuation of the blessed operations that Islamic State is conducting against the protector of the cross, Turkey, a heroic soldier of the caliphate struck one of the most famous nightclubs where the Christians celebrate their apostate holiday. We let infidel Turkey know that the blood of Muslims that is being shed by its airstrikes and artillery shelling will turn into fire on its territories.”
Analysts say the New Year eve attack could be ISIS reaction to the Turkish government’s alliance with Russia and Iran to crush Islamist militias inside Syria. Last week, Turkey negotiated a ceasefire in Syria with Russian and Iranian officials covering much of Syria, but it has pressed on with bloody attacks on Al Bab aiming to seize ISIS’ capital in Syria, Raqqa.
ISIS has repeatedly carried out terror attacks in Turkey, the biggest single attack was ISIS on October 10, 2015. At least 109 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in a twin suicide bombings against a peace rally in Ankara. In 2016, the Islamic State carried out six terrorist attacks in Turkey, in which 127 people were killed and some 320 others wounded.
Split-offs from the Kurdish nationalist movement such as the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) also carried out several terror attacks, including bombings in December in Istanbul and Kayseri.
Anti-terrorism experts who looked at footage of the security cameras at the Istanbul nightclub say the shooter seemed well-trained and efficient in the use of his assault rifle and shot wounded victims in the head, execution-style. He cleaned his weapon and changed his clothes, spending 13 minutes in the nightclub’s kitchen, and later escaped the scene by hailing a taxi.
Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have promised to “end” terror, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that the goal of the attack was to spread chaos. The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) called for intensifying the security crackdown on Islamist elements.