Istanbul nightclub attack suspect captured

The main suspect in the New Year’s Eve attack on an exclusive nightclub in Istanbul has been arrested in the Turkish city.

Abdulkadir Masharipov is believed to have mounted the assault on the Reina club which left 39 people dead.

The Uzbek national is said to have been caught in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district.

Citizens of Israel, France, Tunisia, Lebanon, India, Belgium, Jordan and Saudi Arabia were among the victims, and dozens of people were injured.

So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the attack, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.

The gunman arrived at the club by taxi early that Sunday, before rushing through the entrance with a long-barrelled gun he had taken from the boot of the car.

He fired randomly at people celebrating the new year.

The Turkish authorities will be hugely relieved at the suspect’s capture, the BBC’s Mark Lowen reports from Istanbul.

But the far greater challenge for them is to secure this country and step up intelligence to halt the wave of terror attacks that has engulfed Turkey, our correspondent adds.

‘Medical checks’

Police reportedly found the suspect along with his four-year-old son at the home of a Kyrgyz friend in the city.

A police photo shows a man in a bloodstained tee-shirt with cuts and bruises to his face, being held in front of a camera.

According to the Hurriyet newspaper, he was due to undergo medical checks before being taken in for interrogation at a police headquarters.

Turkish media say the suspect rented a flat in the central Turkish city of Konya with a woman believed to be his wife and two children.

He arrived in Istanbul on 15 December, according to Hurriyet’s sources.

Turkey has been battling IS inside northern Syria while seeking to push back ethnic Kurds in the region too.

Reina was one of Istanbul’s best-known clubs, with a view across the Bosphorus towards Asia.

It attracted singers, actors and sports stars as well as foreign tourists.

Source: BBC