Islamic State claims New Year's massacre at Istanbul nightclub

Istanbul

ISLAMIC State (IS) claimed responsibility for the killing of 39 people celebrating the New Year inside a fabled Istanbul nightclub, an act of terrorism that has become grimly familiar in Turkey as it fails to keep the violence in Syria from spilling into its cities.

Shortly after midnight on Jan 1, an assailant killed a police officer guarding the entrance to Reina, a waterfront restaurant and nightclub complex in the Ortakoy entertainment district, then raked the crowd of revellers inside with bullets. The assailant killed 39, including 25 foreigners, before escaping. His identity is either unknown or has not yet been made public by the authorities, who imposed a press ban on any information that could compromise the investigation.