Turkish police identify two suspects in twin bomb attacks

Turkish police have identified two suspects involved in the twin bombing attacks in central Istanbul on Saturday, which killed 44 people and injured 155 others, local media reported on Wednesday.

The car used in the attacks was purchased online and delivered through a third person to the militants, one of them being a female, the Hurriyet daily news said.

It said on surveillance cameras, the two were seen near some police stations, including the police headquarters, before heading to a football stadium in the district of Besiktas, outside which the moving explosive-laden car was detonated targeting riot police on duty for a match.

Forty-five seconds later, the male blew himself up in a park just across the stadium.

The investigators found the trace of explosives of TNT and RDX inside the car strengthened with C-4 plastic explosive and metal pieces, while the suicide vest used by the bomber also has the plastic explosive included, the report said.

The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, a Kurdish militant group linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) outlawed by Turkey, has claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks.

The PKK has renewed fighting with government forces since last year, mainly in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast. Endit