Istanbul — Turkey arrested two Chinese nationals of Uighur origins on Friday, for suspected links to the mass shooting in the Reina night club on New Year’s Eve in Istanbul which resulted in the death 39 people.
Turkish newspaper Hurriyet quoted the police as saying that, after staging the attack, the Reina attacker went to the house he had rented in Istanbul towards the end of December 2016 and took his son, but left his wife and 18-month-old daughter.
The newspaper added that the wife of the attacker, known as Abu Muhammed Horasani, was arrested for interrogation on Jan. 11. She said that she did not know about her husband’s connection with Daesh or his plot. She added that he came home that night, said goodbye to her and took their 4-year-old son.
The suspects, named as Omar Asim and Abuliezi Abuduhamiti, were arrested on charges of “being members of a terrorist organisation”, of “purchasing unlicensed firearms” and “being accomplices to the murder of 39 people”, state-run Anadolu Agency cited a prosecutor as saying.
A witness in the central Anatolian city of Konya had reportedly seen Asim with the Reina nightclub attacker, the agency said late Friday.
The gunman remains at large despite a massive manhunt. — Agencies
