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Turkish Public Prosecution: ISIS Planned for Attack Similar to Reina Nightclub | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Turkish police stand guard outside the Reina nightclub by the Bosphorus, which was attacked by a gunman, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan


Ankara- Judicial Turkish sources have unveiled an ISIS plot to carry out an attack similar to that in Reina nightclub which took place on New Year’s Eve, killing 39 people and wounding 69.

Sources revealed that the indictment prepared by the Public Prosecution in Istanbul against the executor of Reina club attack Abdulkadir Masharipov showed that one of the suspects was planning a similar attack.

According to the brief, the accused, 54, is a member of ISIS and had the same tasks and skills as those of Masharipov. The brief mentioned that four suspects were residing with the accused but managed to escape from the back window during the raid on Feb. 22.

The Public Prosecution demanded 40 life sentences and 2,397 days in jail against Uzbekistan citizen Masharipov– the indictment included also 57 accusations against him.

Masharipov was arrested in Istanbul’s Esenyurt neighborhood on January 16. He was accompanied by an Iraqi and three women, one from Egypt, another from Somalia and the third from Senegal.

Masharipov confessed that he received orders from an ISIS leader north Syria and that he – in his turn – sent him pictures and videos from the nightclub through Telegram.

Later, the US Army revealed on April 21 that an assistant of ISIS leader in Syria Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed and he was assigned to plan for the terrorist attack on Reina nightclub. The assistant called Abdul Rahman al-Uzbeki was also responsible for recruiting militants to join the group and funding terror attacks. He was also involved in terror attacks outside of Iraq and Syria.