– ‘Number one enemy’ –
Turkish media identified the strike’s organiser as Akhmed Chatayev, the Chechen leader of an IS cell in Istanbul who reportedly found accommodation for the bombers.
Chatayev allegedly organised two deadly bombings this year in the heart of the city’s Sultanahmet tourist district and the busy Istiklal shopping street, the Hurriyet newspaper said.
Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House Committee on Homeland Security, described Chatayev as “probably the number one enemy in the Northern Caucasus region of Russia”.
“He’s travelled to Syria on many occasions and became one of the top lieutenants for the minister of war for ISIS operations,” McCaul told CNN.
Swedish court documents seen by AFP showed the 36-year-old had been sentenced to 16 months in jail there in 2008 for arms trafficking, after which he would be deported.
He was granted political asylum in Austria in 2003.
The pro-government Sabah newspaper reported that the attackers scouted the scene and planned to take dozens of passengers hostage inside before carrying out a massacre.
But they began the assault early after attracting suspicion, Sabah said.
CCTV images released by police show the three alleged attackers arriving, wearing dark coats over their suicide vests – clothing that was much too heavy for a hot summer night.
More images show a plainclothes police officer confronting one of the men and asking to see his identification. The attacker pulls out a gun and shoots him.
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