Rabat - Terror group, ISIS, has claimed responsibility for the attack that caused 39 deaths in a nightclub in Istanbul on New Year's Eve, two of whom were Moroccan nationals.
Rabat – Terror group, ISIS, has claimed responsibility for the attack that caused 39 deaths in a nightclub in Istanbul on New Year’s Eve, two of whom were Moroccan nationals.
In a statement released January 2nd on social media, the jihadist group said that “one of the soldiers of the caliphate” led the attack against the popular Turkish nightclub, Reina.
The attacker, who continues to evade capture, used grenades and a gun to shoot at nightclub patrons. More than 20 of the 39 dead were tourists. A total of 65 people were injured in the attack.
In its statement, ISIS accuses Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, of allying itself with Christians. It is well-known that the Turkish army has been actively participating, with the help of the Kurdish militia, in efforts to dislodge ISIS in northern Syria for the past four months.
To date,the extremist group has very rarely claimed responsibility for attacks in Turkey, even though the group has been named several times by the authorities.
According to Turkish daily, Hürriyet, before ISIS went public with their claim of responsibility for this attack, the Turkish authorities had considered the perpetrator of the shooting was most likely linked to the Islamic State and that he could be a Kyrgyz or Uzbek.
Investigators believe it’s possible that the attacker is linked to the cell which committed the triple suicide bombing at the Istanbul airport, which resulted in 47 deaths back in June. This attack had also been linked to ISIS, according to the same newspaper.
Turkey has mobilized an enormous manhunt to apprehend the attacker, who successfully fled the scene by changing his clothes after his attack.
