At least 39 killed in terror attack on Istanbul nightclub, manhunt on for attacker

A gunman opened fire on New Year revelers at a packed nightclub on the shores of Istanbul's Bosporus on Jan. 1 killing at least 39 people, including many foreigners, before fleeing the scene.

The terror attack at the waterside Reina nightclub began when 2017 in Turkey was just 75 minutes old, after a year of unprecedented bloodshed that saw hundreds die in strikes blamed on Kurdish militants and jihadists.

The assailant shot dead a policeman and a civilian at the club entrance and then went on a shooting spree inside, where up to 700 people were feting the New Year.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said the attacker had escaped and was now the target of a major manhunt, expressing hope that the suspect "would be captured soon."

The hunt for the attacker was ongoing.

"The attacker - in the most brutal and merciless way - targeted innocent people who had only come here to celebrate the New Year and have fun," Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin said at the scene.

The identities of 35 victims killed in the attack have been confirmed as 24 have been identified as foreign citizens, while eleven of them were reported to be Turkish citizens.
The foreign victims were identified as seven Saudi Arabian nationals, two Indians, one Canadian, one Syrian, one Israeli, two Tunisians, four Iraqis, one Lebanese and one Belgian.

The attack shook Turkey as it tries to recover from the failed July 15, 2016 coup and a series of deadly bombings in cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, some blamed on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and others claimed by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Security services had been on alert across Europe for New Year celebrations following an attack...