Istanbul attack suspect 'recorded video selfie'

Istanbul attack suspect
# 03 January 2017 07:49 (UTC +04:00)

New footage has been released which appears to show the suspected gunman in the Istanbul nightclub attack filming himself walking around the popular tourist destination of Taksim Square, Sky News reported.

The video comes as police continue to launch raids in the hunt for the attacker who killed 39 people in a nightclub on New Year's Eve.

Earlier, Sky News obtained footage of the suspect changing money at a foreign exchange booth in the Turkish city some time before the massacre.

Deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said authorities are close to identifying the gunman after finding his fingerprints and getting a basic description of him.

According to Turkish newspaper Milliyet, the attacker is a Uyghur Turk who came to the Turkish city of Konya with his family in November last year. Her family members have been reportedly detained.

At least 39 people, including a police officer, died after an attacker opened fire on partygoers at Reina nightclub in Istanbul’s Ortakoy district in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Sixty-nine people were also hurt, with a number of foreigners among the dead and injured.

Eleven of the dead were Turkish nationals and one was a Turkish-Belgium dual-national. Seven victims were from Saudi Arabia and had travelled to Istanbul to attend New Year’s celebrations. Three of the dead were from Lebanon and Iraq each. Two nationals from Tunisia, India, Morocco and Jordan also died, sources said. Kuwait, Canada, Israel, Syria and Russia each lost one citizen in the attack.

One victim remains unidentified. Turkish officials have not yet released the names of those identified.

#
#

THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED