Reina nightclub mastermind arrested in Istanbul

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The mastermind of the New Year's Eve attack at Istanbul’s Reina nightclub that killed 39 people  was arrested, according to a reported statement from a Turkish prosecutor.

“According to a statement by the public prosecutor's office in southwestern province of Burdur, the suspect, who was identified with his initials A.S., was captured in Istanbul,” the Daily Sabah newspaper wrote on Tuesday.

“The rental contract of the apartment in Istanbul's Esenyurt district where Abdulgadir Masharipov, the attack's Uzbek perpetrator, went into hiding after the attack was found on A.S,” it wrote.

The suspect, who is reportedly a French national of Turkish origin, had been living in France since 2009 and was captured two days ago.

Three Kurdish youth were among the 39 people who were killed in the armed attack for which ISIS claimed responsibility.

In mid-January, the Turkish police arrested the shooter, identified as Abdulkadir Masharipov, in Istanbul's Esenyurt district. Additionally, police detained four other people, including a man of Kyrgyz origin and three women from Egypt, Senegal and Somalia.

 

Masharipov was an Uzbek national, who Turkish officials have linked to ISIS, claimed he received training in Afghanistan.

As many as 700 people were inside the nightclub when the attack began.