Istanbul Twin Bombings Kills 38 Leaves, 155 Injured
Thirty-eight people were killed and 155 others were wounded in a set of explosions that detonated after the end of a football game in Istanbul Saturday, December 10.
The explosions, one large blast followed by a smaller one, occurred around 11 p.m. local time, right as fans from both teams left the football game at Basiktas Vodafone Arena. According to Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, a remote control detonated a car bomb for the explosion. Shortly afterward, a suicide bomber caused a second explosion at Macka Park. The two locations are less than a mile apart.
Experts estimate that at least 300-400 kilos of explosives were used in the car bomb attack. The explosion was so powerful that the vehicle used in the bombing was almost completely destroyed.
A Kurdish militant group has claimed responsibility for the bombings. In a statement, the Kurdish Freedom Worker’s Party (PKK) said that the Turkish people were not the target of the attack.
Thirteen people were arrested in connection with the blasts and Soylu said from early in the incident that the evidence pointed to the PKK as those who planned and carried out the attack. A statement from Bursaspor, the away team in the football match, said the explosion was carried out “close to the away stands where our supporters were.”
Of those killed in the attack, 30 were police officers who were at the football game to serve as security for the fans inside.
The attack comes at the end of a long line of terrorist attacks over the past year and as Turkey struggles to overcome a failed military coup back in July.