 "Turkish forensic police officers work inside Istanbul's Ataturk airport. A Turkish official says two attackers have blown themselves up at the airport after police fired at them.")
Tragedy struck at Istanbul airport — one of Europe’s busiest airports — today, when three suicide bombers opened gunfire inside the terminal and eventually blew themselves up, killing 36 people and injuring around 150 people.
While no group has claimed responsibility yet, evidence points to an act by the Islamic State, the Turkish Prime Minister has informed.
Business Standard lists out key things regarding the tragic attack.
Modus operandi
The attackers sprayed bullets at the entrance of the international terminal. Two of the attackers were inside the terminal, while the third was at the parking area. The firing started at 10:00 pm local time.
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How many casualties?
According to a statement by Turkish Prime Minister, 36 people have been killed and about 150 have been injured in the attack.
IS role
While no one has claimed responsibility yet, Turkish PM is of the view that the Islamic State (IS) is behind it.
Flights resume
All flights were immediately cancelled at the airport as soon as the attacks started. However, as of 10:00 am local time, operations had resumed and flights were running on time, against in case of Brussels attacks where operations took several days to start operations.
Attacks history
This is the fourth such deadly attack on the nation in 2016 itself. In March 2016, a suicide bomb attack in Ankara had claimed the lives of 34 people.
The IS’ threat
The group had warned of attacks on the nation — which is currently looking to join the European Union — in the holy month of Ramzan,
International Tourism
In 2015, over 1,30,000 Indians visited Turkey and the number was expected to increase to 1,50,000 this year.
However, tour operators have now demanded beefing up of security from the Turkish government.
