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Saudi-born Istanbul bomber planned New Year's Eve attack: sources

16 January 2016 01:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Nabil Fadli, a Saudi-born Syrian who killed 10 German tourists in a suicide bombing in Istanbul, was planning a major attack on New Year's Eve celebrations in Ankara but changed targets after the plot was foiled, two senior Turkish officials have told Reuters, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Fadli, born in Saudi Arabia in 1988 where his father was teaching, fought in the ranks of Islamic State in Syria and was at one stage captured and tortured, possibly by a Syrian Kurdish militia, before entering Turkey last month, the officials said. A Kurdish official in Syria denied he had entered Kurdish hands.

Fadli registered as refugee with authorities in Istanbul on Jan. 5 before blowing himself up a week later among groups of tourists in Sultanahmet Square near the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, striking at the heart of Turkey's tourism industry.

Turkish tanks and artillery have bombarded Islamic State positions in Syria and Iraq in response to Tuesday's attack and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has vowed air strikes will follow if necessary.

Officials working to piece together Fadli's movements before the bombing said his plans had changed after two of his accomplices were caught preparing a suicide attack on a square in Ankara where crowds gather to celebrate the New Year.

At the time, Fadli himself had not raised any red flags with the authorities because he was not on any Turkish or international watch lists of militant suspects.