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Turkish Police Arrest Suspected Istanbul Gunman

Reina club attacker after being caught by Turkish police in Istanbul, late Monday, Jan. 16, 2017 / AP
January 17, 2017

Turkish police have arrested the suspected gunman who shot dead dozens of people in an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day.

Abdulkadir Masharipov, 34, was detained late Monday during a police operation in Istanbul's Esenyurt district following a weeks-long manhunt, the BBC reported.

Istanbul Gov. Vasip Sahin said four others were arrested alongside Masharipov. Sahin identified Masharipov as an Uzbekistan national who trained in Afghanistan prior to arriving in Turkey in January 2016.

"Masharipov confessed to his crime and his fingerprints matched those found at the scene," Sahin said, the Hurriyet Daily News reported Thursday.

"Operations were conducted at around 152 addresses and 50 people were detained in those operations. In the meantime, 168 foreigners were also handed over to related authorities on suspicion that they might be foreign terrorists. A total of $197,000 in cash, two guns and clips, two drones, and sim cards, and many other materials were also seized," Sahin continued.

An Iraqi man and three women from Egypt were also detained in the operation.

"In this country, no one will get away with what they have done," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.

Police said footage from the attack showed that Masharipov had shot dead a police officer and a civilian at the entrance to the upscale Reina nightclub before opening fire on patrons. Most of those killed in the attack were foreigners primarily from Middle Eastern nations.

Masharipov, code-named Ebu Muhammed Horasani, received logistical support for the attack from an Islamic State cell based in the Central Anatolian province of Konya, Turkish authorities confirmed earlier this month.

Amaq news agency, the media arm of ISIS, released a statement a day after the attack calling Masharipov a "soldier of the caliphate."