Turkey nightclub shooting: Istanbul on alert after armed gunman kills dozens: VIDEO

Turkey nightclub shooting: Istanbul on alert after armed gunman kills dozens

At least 35 reported dead in the assault on New Year’s Eve, which took place in the Ortakoy district

Paramedics carry an injured woman from the site of a gun attack at a nightclub in Istanbul. Photograph:

 Ihlas News Agency/AFP/Getty Images

Istanbul is on high alert after a gunman opened fire on partygoers at a New Year’s Eve celebration in one of the most popular nightclubs in Istanbul, killing 35 people and wounding 40.

The attack at the Reina club in the Ortakoy district is one of the deadliest to hit the city in the past year.

While the perpetrator has not yet been identified and no group has claimed responsibility, authorities called it an “act of terror”.

Live Istanbul nightclub attack: at least 35 killed in New Year's Eve mass shooting – live updates

City’s governor says 40 others wounded after assailant entered club in the Ortakoy district

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“At 1.15am, a terrorist carrying a long-barrelled weapon martyred the police officer waiting outside, and then martyred another citizen to enter,” Istanbul’s governor, Vasip Sahin, said. “He then carried out this violent and cruel act by spraying bullets on innocent people who were celebrating the new year.”

Turkey has endured numerous terror attacks over the past year by Islamic State militants, who have forcefully called in recent months for attacks in the country, as well as by Kurdish separatist groups.

Just three weeks ago a twin bombing outside the football stadium in the district of Besiktas killed 46 people, most of them police officers, two hours after a football match.

Police cordoned off the site of the nightclub attack on Sunday morning and officers with riot shields blocked the road leading to the club, which is situated next to one of the bridges across the Bosphorus. Ambulances shuttled the wounded out of the scene to other nearby hospitals.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/31/turkey-armed-attacker-opens-fire-in-istanbul-nightclub-reports

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