Day of Mourning as Istanbul Death Toll Rises to 42

239 Others Wounded in Airport Attack

Turkey is still struggling to come to grips with the massive terrorist attack against Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport yesterday, and is holding a national day of mourning, as the casualty toll continued to rise, finally settling at 42 killed and 239 wounded. 41 of the wounded remain in intensive care.

The attackers were armed with assault rifles, and all ultimately detonated their suicide vests, adding to the death toll. Footage of one of the attackers was released, showing him shooting, being shot to the ground, and detonating his vest.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that Turkey would remain unified in the wake of the attack, issuing a statement in which he assured that the three attackers were all “going straight to hell” for what they had done.

Officials remain uncertain who carried out the attack, though US officials were quick to try to pin it on ISIS. Turkey has several enemies capable of such an attack, however, and Turkish officials have said they don’t want to rule anything out until they collect the evidence.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.