Turkey on Thursday detained 13 suspected Islamic State jihadists over the deadly Istanbul airport attack, as chilling details emerged of how suicide bombers launched their assault. The death toll from Tuesday's gun and suicide bomb spree at Ataturk airport has risen to 44, state-run news agency Anadolu said, with more than 200 people injured.
Nineteen foreigners are among the dead, the interior minister said. Authorities have identified the bombers as a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz national. Turkey has been plunged into mourning over the carnage at Ataturk airport, the deadliest of several attacks to strike Turkey's biggest city this year. Police carried out more than a dozen raids across Istanbul early Thursday, arresting 13 people including four foreigners, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said.
Turkey has suffered a string of deadly attacks in the past year blamed on either IS or Kurdish rebels, and the airport attack comes just at the start of the crucial summer tourist season. Ala told reporters late Wednesday there was an ongoing "serious and comprehensive investigation" into who was behind the attack. Using another name for IS, he said: "First signs point to Daesh, but it's not certain yet." CIA director John Brennan also said the assault bore the "hallmark" of the jihadist group. There has been global condemnation of the attack, with the Eiffel Tower set to glow in the red and white of the Turkish flag on Thursday night.