ISIS Claims Turkish Nightclub Attack, Killer on the Loose

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Summary: On New Year’s day, a shooter killed 39 people in a Turkish nightclub.

The hunt for the man who killed 39 people in a Turkish nightclub is intensifying. ISIS has already claimed responsibility for the New Year’s attack, and authorities have the fingerprints and photograph of the alleged shooter, who killed people from 14 countries that night.

  

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“Information about the fingerprints and basic appearance of the terrorist have been found,” Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said. “The next step will be to try to identify him as quickly as we can. We hope we will not only find the terrorist but also his connections and those people who gave him support inside and outside the club.”

In Istanbul, a shooter entered Reina, an upscale nightclub, and went on a seven-minute rampage, terrorizing the 600 revelers who were celebrating the New Year. The shooter murdered 39 people and injured countless others. Police were able to arrest twelve people who were allegedly involved, but the actual gunman is still a fugitive.

On Twitter, ISIS has already declared that this was one of their acts, but the statement has not been verified as real.

“In continuation of the blessed operations which ISIS carries out against Turkey, a soldier of the brave caliphate attacked one of the most popular nightclubs while Christians were celebrating their holiday,” the Twitter statement read.

The United States and Turkey have stated that this nightclub shooting was an act of terrorism, and Kurtulmus said ISIS attacked the club because it was unhappy with Turkey’s role in Syria. This summer, Turkey launched an aggressive military operation in Syria to fight the so-called Islamic State, and Kurtulmus said that this New Year’s act would not affect its actions in Syria.

In recent months, Turkey has been a target of two violent but separate groups–ISIS and the Kurdish Workers’ Party. On December 10, a Kurdish military group claimed responsibility for a bombing outside of a football stadium. On August 20, there was a bomb attack on a wedding party allegedly ordered by ISIS. Four other terrorist-related acts had also occurred since February.

On Sunday, Reina issued a statement on Facebook.

“This terrible incident is a terror attack against our citizens’ peace, brotherhood, serenity, economy, tourism and against our nation,” the statement read. “Our hearts bleed and the bullets are in our heart.”

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