Istanbul Attack: Manhunt after Nightclub Massacre Kills 39

Local Editor

Hours after the rampage that led to the death of 39 people in one of Istanbul's famous nightclubs, Turkish police conducted a massive manhunt for the gunman who attacked revelers, celebrating the New Year.

After the latest in a string of deadly attacks to hit the country, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the carnage sought to sow chaos, but vowed Turkey would never bow to the threat.

The shooting spree at the waterside Reina nightclub erupted when 2017 in Turkey was just 75 minutes old, as people were seeing out a year of unprecedented bloodshed that saw hundreds die in strikes blamed on Takfiris and Kurdish militants and a failed coup.

The assailant shot dead a policeman and a civilian at the club entrance and then turned his gun on partygoers inside where up to 700 people were ringing in the New Year.

NTV broadcaster said the gunman fired between 120 and 180 rounds in the seven-minute attack, during which many revelers threw themselves into the freezing waters of the Bosphorus to escape death.

The attack evoked memories of the November 2015 carnage in Paris when Daesh [Arabic Acronym for the terrorist "ISIS" / "ISIL"] terrorists unleashed a gun and bombing rampage on nightspots in the French capital, killing 130 people including 90 at the Bataclan concert hall.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the gunman was still at large after slipping away unnoticed after the attack, denying earlier reports a Santa Claus costume had been used as a disguise.

The assailant "left the gun and went away from the scene of the incident," he told reporters in Istanbul. "It was an armed terrorist."

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the gunman had arrived with a gun concealed under an overcoat but subsequently exited the venue wearing a different garment.

Police and intelligence services were beginning to piece together clues about the attack and the public would be informed soon, Yildirim said.

However, he did not pin the blame on any particular group and no one has yet claimed responsibility.

The Firat news agency, seen as close to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK], quoted PKK leader Murat Karayilan as saying no Kurdish force was involved in the attack.

The state-run Anadolu news agency, citing justice ministry sources, said 38 of the victims had been identified - 27 foreigners and 11 Turks with one body still unidentified.

Another 65 people were being treated in hospital.

The attack crystallized fears New Year celebrations could present a tempting target for extremists.

From Sydney to Paris, Rio to London, security had been boosted and at least 17,000 police officers were deployed in Istanbul, some dressed themselves as Santa Claus as cover, according to television reports.

World leaders rushed to condemn the attacks, with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying it was "hard to imagine a crime more cynical than the killing of civilians during a New Year's celebration".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced "an inhumane, sneaky attack on people who wanted to celebrate" while Pope Francis condemned the shooting in his New Year message.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team