Turkish police 'catch Istanbul nightclub killer'

The alleged attacker was found along with his four-year-old son in an apartment in the Esenyurt district of Istanbul after a massive police operation, the state broadcaster reported.

He had been on the run for over two weeks after the attack.

Reports had previously suggested he never left the metropolis, despite a tightening of borders in a bid to stop him escaping.

The suspect was caught in an operation jointly carried out by the Turkish police and the spy agency MIT, Turkish TV said.

Dogan news agency published a picture of the detained man with blood on his face and T-shirt, his neck gripped by a policeman.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the killings were in reprisal for Turkish military operations in northern Syria.

On Tuesday, media reports said the gunman had fought in Syria for IS and used techniques he had learnt in the civil war.

There had been confusion over his identity in the wake of the massacre, with reports initially suggesting a Kyrgyz national and then a Uighur from China.

But reports on 8 January said intelligence services and anti-terror police in Istanbul had identified him as a 34-year-old Uzbek who was part of a Central Asian IS cell.

The state run Anadolu news agency identified the detained man as Abdulgadir Masharipov, while the Dogan news agency said he used the code name of Ebu Muhammed Horasani within IS. These are the same names given in the 8 January reports.

The suspect was living in an apartment rented by a Kyrgyz in Istanbul who was also detained, TRT reported. Anadolu said a total of five people were detained in the operation, including three women.

Agencies contributed to this report.