Security measures boosted in Istanbul airports over terror threat

Turkish police on Wednesday stepped up the security measures at Istanbul's two international airports over potential terror threat, local media reported.

The Istanbul police sent a letter to the Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen airports, advising them to better scrutinize such groups of passengers as children, pregnant women, the disabled and the elderly, the private Dogan news agency said.

The warning came after the Turkish military, backed by international coalition airstrikes, launched a cross-border operation in northern Syria early Wednesday morning in efforts to drive the Islamic State militants out of the Syrian border town of Jarablus.

Last Saturday, a suicide bomber, believed to be as young as 12, killed 54 people and wounded scores of others when he blew himself up at a wedding ceremony in Turkey's southeastern city of Gaziantep.

On June 28, three suicide bombers opened fire and blew themselves up at the Ataturk Airport, killing 44 people and injuring more than 200 others. Endit