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Reuters

Turkish investigators are poring over video footage and witness statements after three suspected Islamic State suicide bombers opened fire and blew themselves up in Istanbul’s main airport, killing 41 people and wounding 239.
The attack on Europe’s third-busiest airport was the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings this year in Turkey, part of the US-led coalition against Islamic State and struggling to contain spillover from neighbouring Syria’s war.
Istanbul airport: a scene of gunfire, bombs and sirens
President Tayyip Erdogan said the attack should serve as a turning point in the global fight against terrorism, which he said had “no regard for faith or values”.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned the attack and announced it had evacuated 90 Chinese citizens who were at the airport during the bombings. None were harmed, according to Xinhua.
However a Turkish official said a Chinese citizen was among the 13 foreigners killed. Citizens from Jordan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Iran and Ukraine also died.
Hong Kong’s Travel Industry Council said the 80 Hongkongers confirmed safe – who belonged to four Hong Kong tour groups – had not sought assistance from the organisation.


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Video footage showed one of the attackers inside the terminal building being shot, apparently by a police officer, before falling to the ground as people scattered. The attacker then blew himself up around 20 seconds later.
“It’s a jigsaw puzzle ... The authorities are going through CCTV footage, witness statements,” a Turkish official said.
The Dogan news agency said autopsies on the three bombers, whose torsos were ripped apart, had been completed and that they may have been foreign nationals, without citing its sources.
Broken ceiling panels littered the kerb outside the arrivals section of the international terminal. Plates of glass had shattered, exposing the inside of the building, and electric cables dangled from the ceiling.


Cleanup crews swept up debris and armed police patrolled as flights resumed.
“This attack, targeting innocent people is a vile, planned terrorist act,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters at the scene in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“There is initial evidence that each of the three suicide bombers blew themselves up after opening fire,” he said. The attackers had come to the airport by taxi and preliminary findings pointed to Islamic State responsibility.
Why Turkey is vulnerable to growing terror attacks
Two US counterterrorism officials familiar with the early stages of investigations said Islamic State was at the top of the list of suspects even though there was no evidence yet.
No group had claimed responsibility more than 12 hours after the attack, which began around 9:50 p.m. Istanbul time on Tuesday.
Istanbul’s position bridging Europe and Asia has made Ataturk airport, Turkey’s largest, a major transit hub for passengers across the world. The Istanbul governor’s office said 109 of the 239 people hospitalised had since been discharged.

“There were little babies crying, people shouting, broken glass and blood all over the floor. It was very crowded, there was chaos. It was traumatic,” said Diana Eltner, 29, a Swiss psychologist who was travelling from Zurich to Vietnam but had been diverted to Istanbul after she missed a connection.
Delayed travellers were sleeping on floors at the airport, as some passengers and airport staff cried and hugged each other. Police in kevlar vests with automatic weapons prowled the kerbside as a handful of travellers and Turkish Airlines crew trickled in.
The national carrier said it had cancelled 340 flights although its departures resumed after 8:00 am.
The attack bore similarities to a suicide bombing by Islamic State militants at Brussels airport in March that killed 16 people. A coordinated attack also targeted a rush-hour metro train, killing a further 16 people in the Belgian capital.
Islamic State militants also claimed gun and bomb attacks that killed 129 people in Paris last November


“In Istanbul they used a combination of the methods employed in Paris and Brussels. They planned a murder that would maximise fear and loss of life,” said Suleyman Ozeren, a terrorism expert at the Ankara-based Global Policy and Strategy Institute.
Turkey needs to work harder on “preventative intelligence” to stop militants being radicalised in the first place, he said.
The two US officials said the Istanbul bombing was more typical of Islamic State than of Kurdish militant groups which have also carried out recent attacks in Turkey, but usually strike at official government targets.
Yildirim said it was significant that the attack took place when Turkey was having successes in fighting terrorist groups and mending ties with some of its international partners.

Turkey announced the restoration of diplomatic ties with Israel on Monday after a six-year rupture and has been trying to restore relations with Russia, a major backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
One of the US officials said there had been a “marked increase” in encrypted Islamic State propaganda and communications on the dark web, which some American officials interpret as an effort to direct or inspire more attacks outside its home turf to offset its recent losses on the ground.
Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the probe, which they said is being led by Turkish officials with what they called intelligence support from the United States and other Nato allies.

In the line of fire: how terrorism links the world in the internet age

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Attack in Turkey a reminder that we cannot let our guard down

‘We’re sad. We’re scared’: A day after Istanbul airport attack, Turks count the cost

Istanbul airport terror attack

Islamic State group blamed for suicide attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, as death toll rises to 41

A Turkish anti-riot police officer stands guard at Ataturk airport’s international arrival terminal in Istanbul, a day after a suicide bombing and gun attack killed at least 41 people. Photo: AFP

Officials walk inside Turkey's largest airport, Istanbul Ataturk, Turkey, following a blast June 28, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A woman stands and cries outside Istanbul's Ataturk airport, Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Two explosions have rocked Istanbul's Ataturk airport, killing several people and wounding others, Turkey's justice minister and another official said Tuesday. A Turkish official says two attackers have blown themselves up at the airport after police fired at them. The official said the attackers detonated the explosives at the entrance of the international terminal before entering the x-ray security check. Turkish authorities have banned distribution of images relating to the Ataturk airport attack within Turkey. (AP Photo) TURKEY OUT

A weapon is seen on the floor at Ataturk airport after suicide bombers opened fire before blowing themselves up at the entrance, in Istanbul, Turkey June 28, 2016. Courtesy of 140journo/via Reuters. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT WAS PROCESSED BY REUTERS TO ENHANCE QUALITY. AN UNPROCESSED VERSION HAS BEEN PROVIDED SEPARATELY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

An entrance of the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul after explosions, Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Two explosions have rocked Istanbul's Ataturk airport, killing at least 10 people and wounding around 20 others, Turkey's justice minister and another official said Tuesday. (DHA via AP) TURKEY OUT

3 Hong Kong officials narrowly escape Islamic State bombing at Brussels airport

People observe a minute of silence at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels. Photo: AP

Police and soldiers from the Belgian Army stand in front of blown out windows at Zaventem Airport in Brussels on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Belgian authorities were searching Wednesday for a top suspect in the country's deadliest attacks in decades, as the European Union's capital awoke under guard and with limited public transport after scores were killed and injured in bombings on the Brussels airport and a subway station. (AP Photo/Yorick Jansens, Pool photo via AP)

At least 31 dead after terrorist attack on Brussels; bomb blasts hit airport and metro station 

A smoke-filled Brussels Airport after explosions turned morning travellers into victims March 22 Photo: Ralph Usbeck/AP

epa05225239 French police controls along the road from Paris to Lille, between Senlis and Compiegnes, France, 22 March 2016. Some 1,600 additional security forces have been deployed to secure France's airports and train stations after a series of attacks in Brussels, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on 22 March 2016. EPA/YOAN VALAT

Update | Islamic State group blamed for suicide attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, as death toll rises to 41

Three attackers opened fire with guns before detonating suicide bombs