Turkey detains 37 airport attack suspects

Seven more suspects have been detained in Turkey on charges of "membership of an armed terrorist group" over the airport attack which killed 45 people.

An armed Turkish policeman patrols behind a police line after multiple suicide bomb attacks at Ataturk international airport in Istanbul, Turkey

An armed Turkish policeman patrols behind a police line after multiple suicide bomb attacks at Ataturk international airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Source: AAP

A Turkish court has jailed seven suspects pending trial on terrorism charges over last month's triple suicide bombing at Istanbul's main airport, bringing the number in custody to 37.

The attack at Ataturk Airport killed 45 people and wounded hundreds, the deadliest in a series of bombings this year in Turkey.

The seven suspects were detained on charges of "membership of an armed terrorist group" and being accomplices to murder, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The private Dogan news agency said all seven were foreign nationals.

One government official has said the attackers were Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals, and President Tayyip Erdogan has said Islamic State militants from the former Soviet Union were behind the attack.

Media reports have said at least 11 of those detained were Russian.

The Istanbul bombing was followed by major attacks in Bangladesh, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, all apparently timed for the run-up to Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the Ramadan holy fasting month.

In the June 28 airport attack, three bombers opened fire to create panic outside the airport before two of them got inside and blew themselves up.

The third militant detonated his explosives outside at the entrance to the international arrivals terminal.

Moscow says thousands of Russian citizens and citizens of other former Soviet states have joined Islamic State, travelling through Turkey to reach Syria.

Russia fought two wars against Chechen separatists in the North Caucasus in the 1990s, and more recently has fought Islamist insurgents in Dagestan.


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Source: AAP


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