Istanbul attack: Bombing accused arrested, officials say

Turkeys Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Monday said that the person who planted the bomb on Istanbuls Istiklal Street that killed at least six people has been arrested according to staterun Anadolu agencys Englishlanguage Twitter accountIn the Istanbul attack at least 81 people were injured when an explosion rocked the busy pedestrian street Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay called it a terrorist attackWe consider it to be a terrorist act as a result of an attacker whom we consider to be a woman detonating the bomb CNN quoted Oktay as saying on SundayThe blast occurred on the pedestrian tourist street Istiklal on Sunday afternoon Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the death toll from the explosion rose to sixTurkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that CCTV footage shows a woman sitting on a bench for more than 40 minutes and then getting up one or two minutes before the explosion leaving a bag or plastic bag behind He further informed that earlier a woman who was suspected of being involved in the attack was kept in custodyBozdag who made the comments in an interview with privatelyowned A Haber news channel said Turkish security forces believe the woman is the suspect and officials are investigating her according to CNNThere are two possibilities Either that bag or plastic bag has a mechanism in it it explodes on its own or someone detonates it from afar All of these are currently under investigation he addedThe name of the woman is unknown he said All the recordings and data about the woman are being analyzedThe blast occurred on the pedestrian tourist street Istiklal on Sunday afternoon According to preliminary data the citys governor Ali Yerlikaya said that four people were killed and 38 were injured as a result of the blastAccording to the information that I have received from the citys governor the death toll is six people at the moment and the number of injured is 53 Erdogan told a briefingAlso read 6 killed 53 wounded in bomb attack in Istanbul President Recep Tayyip ErdoganThe president added that preliminary information indicated that the blast was a terrorist attackIt would be wrong to say with confidence that this is a terrorist attack but preliminary data CCTV footage and the first information provided by the governor to us indicates that it smells like a terrorist attack Erdogan saidIndia on Sunday condoled the tragic loss of lives in the fatal explosion in Central IstanbulApart from India the US also condemned the attack and said that they stand shouldertoshoulder with their NATO Ally Turkey in countering terrorismThe United States strongly condemns the act of violence that took place today in Istanbul Turkiye Our thoughts are with those who were injured and our deepest condolences go to those who lost loved ones We stand shouldertoshoulder with our NATO Ally Turkiye in countering terrorism White House Press Secretary Karine JeanPierre said in a Sunday statementThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever