SOFIA, Nov 20 (NNN-Xinhua/AGENCIES) — Police in Bulgaria have detained five people in connection with the bombing that killed six people in Turkiye’s largest city last weekend, the Bulgarian prosecution service said Saturday.
The detained individuals were charged with helping one of the people who carried out the Nov 13 bombing on a busy Istanbul street, Siika Mileva, a spokesperson for Bulgaria’s chief prosecutor, said.
They are accused of providing “logistical assistance” to help the person flee, but Mileva did not say whether that suspect remained at large.
The nationalities and identities of the people held in Bulgaria were not given.
The state-run Turkish news agency Anadolu reported Saturday that anti-terrorism police in Istanbul had detained eight others suspected of assisting those who carried out the bombing.
On Friday, a Turkish court ordered 17 suspects jailed pending trial, accusing them of attempts against the unity of the state, deliberate killings and attempts to kill.
Officials said a bomb that exploded on Istanbul’s bustling Istiklal Avenue — a popular thoroughfare lined with shops and restaurants — killed six people, including two children. More than 80 others were wounded.
Anadolu Agency said the court released three other suspects from custody pending trial, and ordered the deportation of 29 people who were rounded up by police.
Turkish authorities blamed the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, as well as Syrian Kurdish groups affiliated with it. The Kurdish groups have denied involvement.
The arrest was based on a tip-off from Türkiye’s law enforcement authorities, Mileva said.
Local television channels reported that three of those arrested were of Moldovan origin and one of Arab origin.
Turkish police said Monday that they detained a Syrian woman who confessed that she had received the attack order from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party and its offshoot in Syria, the People’s Protection Units. Both are listed as terrorist organizations by the government of Türkiye. — NNN-XINHUA/AGENCIES
