Islamic State claims Istanbul nightclub attack

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Monday morning for the shooting attack at an Istanbul nightclub in which 39 people were killed over the New Year.

In a statement released in both Arabic and Turkish, the group wrote that “as part of the blessed operations of the Islamic State against the crusaders in Turkey, one of the brave soldiers of the caliphate attacked one of the most famous nightclubs in which the Christians were celebrating their holiday.”

The terrorist organization wrote that the shooter used “hand grenades and a sub-machine gun” and “turned [the club-goers’] happiness into sadness,” also claiming that 150 people were killed and injured in the attack.

IS also warned Turkey in its statement of future attacks, writing that “the infidel Turkish government needs to know that the Muslims whose blood it has spilled with bombs from its planes and its cannons will set [Turkey’s] land alight with the help of Allah,” according to the Hebrew-language news site Ynet.

Earlier Monday, the Hurriyet daily said that Turkish authorities believe the attacker is linked to Islamic State jihadists and may be from Central Asia.

Hurriyet said Turkish police and intelligence had received information over the risk of a New Year’s attack by IS in several Turkish cities and had carried out raids and arrests throughout December in response.

Without citing sources, it said that the attacker — who is still on the run — is believed to be linked to IS and may have been from Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan.

Investigators also consider it possible that the attacker is linked to the same cell that in June carried out a triple suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport blamed on IS that left 47 dead, it added.

In a separate article also in Hurriyet, columnist Abdulkadir Selvi wrote that Turkey had received intelligence from the United States on December 30 warning of the risk of attacks by IS in Istanbul and Ankara on New Year’s night.

However the intelligence did not specify the location where such an attack could take place, the article added.

Turkish authorities have so far not said who was behind the attack on the Reina nightclub just after the New Year struck.

But they have launched a massive manhunt for the attacker, who is believed to have slipped away after changing his clothes.

The attack came as the Turkish army wages a four-month incursion in Syria to oust IS jihadists and Kurdish militants from the border area, suffering increasing casualties.

Istanbul, Ankara and other Turkish cities were hit by a string of attacks in 2016 blamed on Kurdish militants and jihadists that left hundreds dead.