Chilling CCTV shows woman planting bomb that killed six people in Turkey
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New footage shows the chilling moment a woman planted a bomb on a bustling street in Istanbul in an attack that killed six people and wounded more than 80 others.
CCTV shows Syrian-born Ahlam Albashir, who has admitted carrying out the attack to police, walking through the busy streets of Istanbul while wearing a rucksack.
Albashir is then seen sitting on a park bench at the popular shopping street of Istiklal Avenue on Sunday and placing the bag – which contained a TNT-laden bomb – on the seat beside her.
Albashir, who has admitted to being trained by Kurdish militants according to Turkish police, is then seen leaving the bag on the seat and walking quickly down the street while holding a red rose in her hand.
Within minutes, the bomb explodes and a scene of utter chaos ensues. The six killed in the blast were members of three families and included a nine-year-old girl Ecrin and her father Yusuf Medyan, as well as a 15-year-old girl and her mother.
Minutes after the blast, Albashir, wearing what appears to be a hijab, is seen in CCTV running through a crowd of bewildered people who were looking behind them at the aftermath of the bombing. She is the only person looking forwards.
Albashir was arrested by Turkish police on Monday, a day after the bomb attack, at a house where she was allegedly hiding.
CCTV shows Syrian-born Ahlam Albashir (circled in red), who has admitted carrying out the attack to police, walking through the busy streets of Istanbul while wearing a rucksack
Albashir is then seen sitting on a park bench at the popular shopping street of Istiklal Avenue on Sunday and placing the bag – which contained a TNT-laden bomb – on the seat beside her
Minutes after the blast, Albashir, wearing what appears to be a hijab, is seen in CCTV running through a crowd of bewildered people who were looking behind them at the aftermath of the bombing. She is the only person looking forwards
Plice footage shared with Turkish media shows officers arresting Ahlam Albashir, who is from Syria , at a house where she was allegedly hiding on Tuesday
The six people killed in the blast were members of three families and included a nine-year-old girl Ecrin and her father Yusuf Medyan, as well as a 15-year-old girl and her mother. Pictured: People at the scene following the explosion in Istanbul on Sunday
During her interrogation, Albashir confessed to planting the bomb and said she was trained as a ‘special intelligence officer’ by Kurdish militants, Istanbul police said. She had entered Turkey through north-west Syria’s Afrin region, the police added.
Turkish authorities blamed the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, as well as Syrian Kurdish groups affiliated with it. The Kurdish militants groups have denied involvement.
‘Our people and the democratic public know closely that we are not related to this incident, that we will not directly target civilians and that we do not accept actions targeting civilians,’ the PKK said in a statement published by the Firat news agency.
Albashir is among 46 people people who were detained by police on Monday. Since then, four further people have been arrested, bringing the total number of people in custody to 50.
The state-run Anadolu Agency said police on Tuesday detained two brothers, identified as Ammar J and Ahmed J.
Ammar J was allegedly tasked with helping Albashir flee Istanbul to neighbouring Greece after the attack, while Ahmed J allegedly drove a suspect who is still at large to Edirne province, near the border with Bulgaria, Anadolu reported.
Around 80 people were admitted to hospital after the attack, of whom at least 57 have been discharged. Six of the wounded were in intensive care and two of them were in serious condition, officials said.
The six killed in the blast were members of three families and included a nine-year-old girl Ecrin and her father Yusuf Medyan, as well as a 15-year-old girl and her mother.
Young girl Ecrin Medyan, who was among six people killed in a fireball explosion in an Istanbul shopping district, has been pictured
A boy affected by the blast who was separated from his parents is cared for after the explosion on Sunday
After the bomb attack on Istiklal Street on November 13, the whole street was decorated with Turkish flags, wreaths and carnations for the deceased on November 15
Mr Medyan worked for Turkey’s ministry of family and social services, Sky News reports. The department’s minister, Derya Yanik, said: ‘I curse this treacherous attack that killed a father and his daughter.
‘As the state, we stand by the families of our brothers and sisters who lost their lives and with our wounded people with all our means. No evil focus will be able to disrupt our unity and solidarity.’
Turkish television broadcast footage purporting to show Albashir being detained at a house where she was allegedly hiding. It said police searching the house also seized large amounts of cash, gold items and a gun.
Police later also released a photograph showing the suspect standing between two Turkish flags, in handcuffs.
Turkish officials said Kurdish militants had allegedly given orders for the main suspect to be killed to avoid evidence being traced back to them.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has fought an armed insurgency in Turkey since 1984. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since then.
Ankara and Washington both consider the PKK a terrorist group, but disagree on the status of the Syrian Kurdish groups, which have been allied with the US in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria
Turkey has been infuriated by US support for the Kurdish militia in Syria, and on Monday, Turkey’s interior minister Suleyman Soylu said he rejects messages of condolences from the United States.