[**UPDATE: At least 31 killed, 147 wounded after explosions at Istanbul airport, Turkish justice minister says – TRT World**]
ISTANBUL — Three attackers with suicide vests detonated their explosives at the entrance of Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport, killing at least 28 people and wounding 60 more, Turkish officials said Tuesday night.
The attack is likely to raise tensions in Turkey, which has been the target of multiple attacks by militants in recent months. Istanbul’s airport is one of the busiest in the world, but the tourism industry here has been crippled by the country’s recent violence.
Police manning a checkpoint at the airport’s international terminal shot at the attackers as they approached, a Turkish official said. The attackers then detonated their bombs and were also killed.
The majority of the casualties are Turkish citizens, “but there are foreign nationals” both killed and wounded, the official said.
[WATCH: Video Shows Moment of Istanbul Atatürk Airport Explosion; Dozens Killed]
Turkish media channels aired what they said was footage from the airport, showing panicked passengers fleeing and debris strewn across the terminal and parking garage.
Outside the airport, stranded passengers hauled their luggage as they were evacuated from the terminal. Some travelers cried and embraced each other. One woman stood outside with a sign bearing the name of a missing passenger.
Both Kurdish and Islamic State militants have carried out bomb attacks in Turkey, including in Istanbul, the country’s largest city. But there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
On Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Turkey had issued a travel advisory for the country, warning U.S. citizens of increased threats of terrorist attacks. President Obama’s assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, Lisa Monaco, briefed the president on the attack, a White House official said. The U.S. Consulate in Istanbul said it was working to determine if U.S. citizens are among the victims.
As a member of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State, Turkey has increased its strikes on Islamic State positions inside Syria in recent months. Turkey also allows U.S. aircraft to use Incirlik airbase to fly bombing raids on the jihadists in Syria.
The Islamic State has responded with rocket fire on Turkish border towns. But if the group is indeed behind Tuesday’s attack, “this would represent a significant escalation by the Islamic State toward Turkey,” said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The attack would likely draw Turkey further into a conflict with the jihadist group.
“This is a symbolic attack against the heart of Turkey,” he said, adding that the airport is the hub of Turkish Airlines, the country’s official air carrier.
Fighting the Islamic State would “now be unavoidable,” Cagaptay said.
(c) 2016, The Washington Post · Erin Cunningham
