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2nd LD: Captured gunman admits attack on nightclub in Istanbul

Xinhua, January 17, 2017 Adjust font size:

The gunman who was captured overnight after 17 days on the run has admitted to a shooting spree he launched against a popular nightclub in Istanbul on New Year's Day, killing 39 people, the governor aid Tuesday.

"He admitted that he conducted the attack," Governor Vasip Sahin told reporters. "It is clear the attack was conducted on behalf of IS."

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the mass shooting at Reina nightclub in central Istanbul, in which the militant fired at crowds ringing in New Year for a period of seven minutes, killing 39, the majority being foreigners, and wounding 69 others.

The attacker, previously identified as Abdulgadir Masharipov, a Uzbek national, was netted late Monday in an apartment in Istanbul's district of Esenyurt, press reports said.

Sahin said some 197,000 U.S. dollars were found on Masharipov, who the governor said is also known as Ebu Muhammed Horasani, and two drones, two weapons and other materials were seized as well in the operation.

An Iraqi man and three women from different countries in Africa were detained along with the gunman, the governor noted.

Masharipov was born in Uzbekistan in 1983, knows four languages and was trained in Afghanistan, Sahin said.

"He is a very well trained terrorist," the governor added.

In the mass manhunt for the gunman, who managed to escape following the shooting attack, 2,000 police officers took part in operations in Istanbul, Hatay, Izmir and Konya, and a total of 50 people were detained in 162 places for their suspected roles in the attack, Sahin said.

He noted that police have examined 7,200 hours of camera records in the investigation.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus on Monday indicated the role of a secret service in Reina attack.

"It appears the Reina attack was not just a terrorist organization's act, but there was also an intelligence organization involved," he was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet daily. "It was an extremely planned and organized act." Endit