Suspect in 2017 Istanbul nightclub attack detained in Kyrgyzstan: Official

A suspect in the 2017 attack on a nightclub in Istanbul that left 39 people dead has been detained in Kyrgyzstan, security services in the Central Asian country said on Dec. 10.

Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security said in a statement that "it was established that the detainee was involved in a high-profile terrorist attack" as a result of which 39 citizens from 18 countries were killed.

The statement did not provide the man's name or age. A spokesman for the committee refused to offer any further information on the investigation when contacted by AFP.

Abdulkadir Masharipov, an Uzbek national, was in 2020 imprisoned for life by a Turkish court in Istanbul as the perpetrator of a gun attack on the upscale Reina nightclub in Turkey's largest city where revellers were ringing in New Year.

ISIL claimed responsibility for the slaying at the venue overlooking the Bosphorus.

Dozens of others were detained in sweeps by Turkish security services and police after the attack.