Terrifying moment ISIS suicide bomber exploded in centre of Istanbul and killed 10 tourists after entering Turkey from Syria
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Blast rocked the Sultanahmet district which is home to world-famous sites including Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia
- Corpses and body parts lay strewn across a main square after the bomb detonated near an ancient Egyptian obelisk
- Ten members of German tour group believed to have died and six hurt in blast by ISIS suicide bomber from Syria
- Angela Merkel said attack would strengthen German resolve to strike back at 'cruel and inhuman face' of terrorism
- European countries including Britain working to establish whether any of their citizens had been killed or injured
This is believed to be the moment a ISIS suicide bomber blew themselves up in the heart of Istanbul's main tourism district and killed ten travellers after entering the country from Syria.
The massive explosion rocked the Sultanahmet neighbourhood where tens of thousands of tourists flock to see its world-famous monuments every day.
A picture circulated online by Turkish media showed a giant fireball erupting next to an Egyptian obelisk where tourists had gathered, however the image has not been independently verified.
At least nine German travellers and one man from Peru were killed. Six Germans, one Norwegian and a Peruvian were also wounded in the blast.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his deputy Numan Kurtulmus said the bomber was a 28-year-old Syrian national who had recently entered the country and was not on Turkey's terrorist watchlist.
Various Turkish media outlets reported that the attacker had been identified as Nabil Fadli, a Saudi Arabian-born Syrian national.
Witnesses said the blast shook buildings and could be heard across the city, while images showed corpses and body parts strewn across a square near iconic sites including the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia museum.
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This picture purportedly shows the moment a suspected Syrian suicide bomber blows themselves up neat to an Egyptian obelisk in the heart of Istanbul's tourism district, killing ten tourists and injuring 15 others
Terror in Turkey: Ten people have died and 15 others were injured when an explosion from a suspected Syrian suicide bomber ripped through a tourism district in the centre of Istanbul near the Obelisk of Theodosius (top right), a monument from ancient Egypt
Terror attack: Bodies litter a square after an explosion ripped through the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, the city's main tourist hub
Horror: The blast rocked the Sultanahmet neighbourhood in central Istabnul which is visited by tens of thousands of tourists every day
A dead body lies on the ground after an explosion near by Blue Mosque in the Sultanahmet district of central Istanbul
Chancellor Angela Merkel said members of a German tour group among the likely casualties and vowed to strike back against the 'cruel and inhuman face' of terrorism.
Travellers were warned to stay away from tourist sites and crowds in the city as other European countries including Britain said they were working to establish if any of their citizens had been caught up in the attack.
Earlier, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said both Turks and foreigners were among the dead, adding that the attack was carried out by a 'suicide bomber of Syrian origin'.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus added that the bomber was a 28-year-old Syrian national, while two senior Turkish security officials said there was a high probability ISIS were responsible.
The blast struck at 8.20am GMT around the Obelisk of Theodosius, a monument from ancient Egypt which was re-erected by the Roman Emperor Theodosius and is one of the city's most eye-catching monuments.
Police cordoned off the area to shocked passers-by and tourists and the nearby tram service has been halted amid fears of a second blast.
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A German tourist named Caroline said: 'The explosion was so loud, the ground shook. There was a very heavy smell that burned my nose.
'I started running away with my daughter. We went into a nearby building and stayed there for half an hour. It was really scary.'
Erdem Koroglu, who was working at a nearby office, told NTV television he saw several people lying on the ground.
'It was difficult to say who was alive or dead,' he said. 'Buildings rattled from the force of the explosion.'
Another witness said: 'The explosion was very loud. We shook a lot. We ran out and saw body parts.'
Turkey's Dogan news agency reported that at least six Germans, one Norwegian and a Peruvian were among the wounded, while Seoul's Foreign Ministry said one South Korean had a finger injury.
One of the injured tourists was a Norwegian tourist who says his knee was pierced by shrapnel from the explosion.
Jostein Nielsen, a 59-year-old Salvation Army officer, told Norway's TV2 that he and his wife were sightseeing in the Turkish city when the bomb went off.
'I first heard a bang that I think is what detonated the bomb. After that came the real bang. I felt that my knee stopped working. There were human remains all over the place,' Nielsen said.
Nielsen is currently in hospital with his knee heavily bandaged. He revealed that the doctors believed that he will be able to walk again.
'It was a great shock. One does not think that such things will happen when you are sightseeing,' ,' his uninjured wife Magna Vaaje Nielsen said.
Police cordoned off the area to shocked passers-by and tourists and the nearby tram service has been halted amid fears of a second blast
Paramedics carry a dead body after an explosion near the Blue Mosque in the Sultanahmet district of central Istanbul, Turkey
Turkish police officers search the area after an explosion near the famous Blue Mosque in the Sultanahmet district of central Istanbul
'I condemn the terror incident in Istanbul assessed to be an attack by a suicide bomber with Syrian origin,' Erdogan told a lunch for Turkish ambassadors in Ankara in a speech broadcast live on television.
'Unfortunately we have 10 dead including foreigners and Turkish nationals,' Erdogan told a lunch for Turkish ambassadors in Ankara, in a speech broadcast live on television.
'This incident has once again showed that as a nation we should act as one heart, one body in the fight against terror. Turkey's determined and principled stance in the fight against terrorism will continue to the end.'
Omer Celik, the spokesman for Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's ruling party, issued a statement condemning what he called 'a heinous attack.'
Chancellor Angela Merkel said members of a German tour group were among the likely casualties and that German officials were working with their Turkish counterparts to determine the identities of the victims and offer assistance to their loved ones.
She said: 'We don't have all the information yet... but we fear that German citizens could be and probably are also among the victims and injured.'
Merkel said the latest attack would deepen German resolve to combat international terrorism.
'Today it hit Istanbul, it has hit Paris, it hit Tunisia, it had already hit Ankara,' she said at a press conference following talks with visiting Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal.
'International terrorism once again showed its cruel and inhuman face and along with the sorrow that we of course feel, it once again shows the necessity to act decisively against terrorism and ultimately overcome these atrocities.'
On high alert: Police sealed off the area, barring people from approaching the scene in case of a second blast
Turkey is on edge after a series of deadly attacks by ISIS including a double suicide bombing in Ankara in October that left 103 dead
Turkish police officers search the area after an explosion near the Blue Mosque in the Sultanahmet district of central Istanbul
Police forensic experts work on the scene of the explosion in central Istanbul which has killed at least ten people and injured 15 others
A member of the Turkish SWAT stands guard by a building after an explosion near the Blue Mosque which killed 10 and injured 15 others
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose ministry set up a crisis team in the wake of the attacks, also condemned the blast as a 'barbaric' act of terrorism.
'We must assume that Germans were hurt and we cannot exclude that Germans were among the dead,' he said.
Germany warned its nationals to avoid tourist sites in Istanbul, a city of about 14 million people that has been hit several times in the past by deadly attacks.
'Travellers in Istanbul are strongly urged to avoid for now large groups of people in public places as well as tourist attractions' and to stay informed via official travel advisories and the media, the foreign ministry said.
The ministry warned of possible 'political tensions as well as violent clashes and terrorist attacks across the country', adding that tourists should avoid large demonstrations.
Police move people on as they secure an area at the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul amid fears of a second explosion
Tourism terror: The blast occurred next to the Obelisk of Theodosius, a monument from ancient Egypt, near world-famous sites including the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the Hagia Sophia museum
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said officials are working to verify whether any Britons were killed.
Mr Hammond said the Government knows tourists were 'involved' in the explosion and promised to update MPs during Foreign Office questions if any news about UK nationals emerges.
Opening the Commons session, he said: 'I wonder if I might just take a few seconds to update the House on the breaking news coming in from Istanbul where an explosion has occurred in the Sultanahmet area, killing at least 10 people, with many more injured.
'This is a tourist area of the city and we already know that some tourists are involved in this incident.
'We are at the moment seeking to verify whether any British nationals are involved and if we get any news on that during the course of the next hour I will update the House accordingly.
'In the meantime, I offer my sympathies to the victims and their families and everyone else affected by the attack.'
A spokeswoman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry in Oslo said the office is working with the embassy in Turkey to check media reports of Norwegian citizens among the wounded.
Turkey is on alert after 103 people were killed on October 10 when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowd of peace activists in Ankara, the bloodiest attack in the country's modern history.
Police secure the area after an explosion near the Ottoman-era Sultanahmet mosque, known as the Blue mosque in Istanbul, Turkey
The Sultanahmet neighbourhood is home to the city's biggest concentration of monuments and is visited by thousands of tourists a day
Police cordoned off the area to shocked passers-by and tourists and the nearby tram service has been halted amid fears of a second blast
That attack was blamed on ISIS, as were two other deadly bombings in the country's Kurdish-dominated southeast earlier in the year.
Turkish authorities have in recent weeks detained several suspected ISIS members, with officials saying they were planning attacks in Istanbul.
The country is also dealing with more than two million Syrian refugees and a wave of migrants from Syria and other countries pouring across Turkey to Europe.
But Turkey is also waging an all-out assault on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has staged dozens of deadly attacks against members of the security forces in the southeast.
The PKK launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, initially fighting for Kurdish independence although now more for greater autonomy and rights for the country's largest ethnic minority.
The conflict, which has left tens of thousands of people dead, looked like it could be nearing a resolution until an uneasy truce was shattered in July.
A Kurdish splinter group, the Freedom Falcons of Kurdistan (TAK), claimed a mortar attack on Istanbul's second international airport on December 23 which killed a female cleaner and damaged several planes.
Meanwhile, the banned ultra-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) has also staged a string of usually small-scale attacks in Istanbul over the last months.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3395311/Syrian-suicide-bomber-detonates-Istanbul-kills-10-German-travellers.html#ixzz4CucgbDun
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