Istanbul attack suspect 'confesses' to New Year's Eve massacre
In a dramatic assault in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Turkish police raided an Istanbul apartment and detained Abdulgadir Masharipov after a massive weeks-long manhunt.
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The suspect was caught in an joint operation by Turkish police and the MIT [AFP]
The gunman who shot dead 39 people on New Year's night at an Istanbul nightclub has been arrested and "confessed" to the massacre on Tuesday, Turkish authorities said.
In a dramatic assault in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Turkish police raided an Istanbul apartment and detained a 34-year-old Uzbek man named Abdulgadir Masharipov after a massive weeks-long manhunt.
In a dramatic assault in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Turkish police raided an Istanbul apartment and detained a 34-year-old Uzbek man named Abdulgadir Masharipov after a massive weeks-long manhunt.
"The terrorist confessed his crime," Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin told reporters at a news conference, saying the suspect's fingerprints matched those of the attacker.
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"He was trained in Afghanistan and can speak four languages. He's a well-trained terrorist," added the governor.
Police also confiscated 197,000 US dollars (185,000 euros), two firearms and clips during the raid.
Local media published a picture of the detained man with blood on his face and T-shirt, his neck gripped by a policeman. Television images showed him being roughly led away, his head bent low.
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.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the killings were in reprisal for Turkish military operations in northern Syria.
The arrest will come as a relief to Istanbul residents, already on edge after a string of attacks, who had feared for more than a fortnight that a trained killer was on the loose in the city.
Agencies contributed to this report
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