[caption id="attachment_113215" align="alignleft" width="169"]
The alleged attacker of Reina nightclub, who is identified as Abdulgadir Masharipov, is seen after he was caught by Turkish police in Istanbul, Turkey, late Monday, in this photo provided by Dogan News Agency. — Reuters[/caption]Istanbul — The man believed to have killed 39 people on New Year’s night at an Istanbul nightclub has confessed after Turkish police captured him in a massive operation, a local official said on Tuesday.
“The terrorist confessed his crime,” Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin told reporters, identifying the suspect as Abdulgadir Masharipov born in Uzbekistan in 1983.
“He was trained in Afghanistan and can speak four languages. He’s a well-trained terrorist,” Sahin added.
The suspected mass killer was captured Monday in a police raid on an apartment in the Esenyurt district, which is on Istanbul’s European side. Authorities have been hunting the attacker for over two weeks, following the bloodbath on the glitzy Reina nightclub on the shores of the Bosphorus. The Daesh (the so-called IS) group claimed the attack.
One Iraqi man and three women from Egypt and Africa were also detained at the same apartment, alongside the alleged assailant, the governor said.
“It is clear that the attack was carried out on behalf of Daesh,” he said.
Turkish media initially reported the killer was captured with his four-year-old son, but the governor said the child was not present during the police raid.
Police confiscated $197,000 (185,000 euros), two weapons and clips at the apartment.
Some 2,000 police officers were involved in the operation backed by Turkish intelligence, according to the official. Police have raided approximately 152 addresses and detained 50 suspects, he said.
Sahin also said the suspected killer “illegally entered Turkey” from its eastern borders.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters in Ankara that the man was being questioned by police and expressed hope that the interrogation would unveil the “forces” behind the attack.
“The vile terrorist who attacked the place of entertainment on New Year’s eve and led to the loss of so many lives has been captured,” Yildirim said.
He added: “What is important is for the suspect to be captured and for the forces behind it to be revealed.”
The premier wouldn’t provide further details on the arrest or the investigation, saying authorities would provide specifics “in time.”
Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said that the captured nightclub attack suspect is an Uzbekistan national who trained in Afghanistan. He is believed to have entered Turkey in January 2016.
The state-run Anadolu Agency said that a man from Kyrgyzstan and three women — from Somalia, Senegal and Egypt — were also detained in the raid, while the gunman’s 4-year-old son was taken into protective custody.
Anadolu said police have also carried out raids on members of a suspected Uzbek Daesh cell in five Istanbul neighborhoods, and detained several people.
Authorities had set up a 1,000-person force to capture the gunman, Anadolu said.
Photographs from raids, widely published in the Turkish media, showed a bruised, black-haired man in a gray, bloodied shirt being held by his neck. NTV television said the gunman had resisted arrest.
