December 2016 Istanbul bombings
| December 2016 Istanbul bombings | |
|---|---|
| Part of Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present) | |
Vodafone Arena and Dolmabahçe-Gazhane avenue after the attacks, 16 December 2016
 Istanbul
Istanbul (Istanbul)
|
|
| Location | Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey |
| Coordinates | 41°02′25″N 28°59′35″E / 41.04028°N 28.99306°ECoordinates: 41°02′25″N 28°59′35″E / 41.04028°N 28.99306°E |
| Date | 10 December 2016 22:30 (UTC+3) |
| Target | Riot police and also civilians |
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Attack type
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Car bombing, suicide bombing |
| Weapons | Car bomb and backpack bomb |
| Deaths | 48 (38 police officers, 8 civilians, 2 perpetrators) |
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Non-fatal injuries
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166 |
| Perpetrators | Kurdistan Freedom Hawks |
On the evening of 10 December 2016, two explosions caused by a car bombing and suicide bombing in Istanbul's Beşiktaş municipality killed 48 people and injured 166 others. 36 of the victims were police officers, 8 were civilians and one remains unidentified. 19 of the injured remain in critical condition. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) assumed responsibility, claiming that their members killed more than 100 police officers.
Earlier in 2016, Turkey had been hit by a number of bombings carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK). The deadliest of these had been the Gaziantep bombing, killing over 50 people. According to Turkish T24 newspaper, this was the seventh terrorist attack in Istanbul in 2016. The Atatürk Airport attack is the deadliest attack to have occurred in Istanbul in 2016.
On 10 December 2016, the TAK took responsibility and claimed they have killed 100 police officers. In their statement, the group stated that Turkish people are not their direct target and their "Team Martyr Tirej" carried out the action with "utmost attention", but no "comfortable life" should be expected in Turkey while the imprisonment of their leader Abdullah Öcalan also known as Apo continues, the Turkish-AKP "fascists" torture Kurdish mothers, expose the bodies of young girls and massacre children in Kurdistan on a daily basis. They blamed Turkish ruling-party AKP for the chaos.
The first explosion was a car bombing in front of the Vodafone Arena. About 300–400 kg (660–880 lb) of explosives with iron pellets were used in the attack. It was aimed at a group of riot police which had overseen the spectators of a match leaving the station; the attack took place after the spectators had left. It was reported by NTV that the bombing targeted a police vehicle leaving the stadium. A football match of the 2016–17 Süper Lig between Beşiktaş JK and Bursaspor had taken place around one and a half hours before the explosion and the bombings occurred in the exit for Bursaspor supporters. Bursaspor released a statement from its official Twitter account, saying that none of its supporters had been injured.
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Wikipedia