Istanbul airport attack: Investigators say suicide bombers came from Russia and former USSR as death toll rises

The death toll rose to 43 on Thursday after a Palestinian woman died of her injuries

Officers patrol Ataturk airport near the site of Tuesday’s attack (Reuters)

The three suicide bombers who killed more than 40 people in an attack on Istanbul's main airport were all from parts of the former USSR.

Officials gave the men's nationalities as Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz on Thursday after police detained 13 people, including three foreigners, in raids across Istanbul.

Arrests were also made coastal city of Izmir, where at least nine people were detained on accusations of financing, recruiting and providing logistical support to Isis.

Turkish authorities believe Isis was behind the bombing and shooting attack, when three militants detonated explosives and fired at passengers with AK-47s outside the airport entrance and inside the departures terminal.

The pattern followed a series of attacks carried out by Isis in recent months, including at Brussels airport and in Paris.

Recruits from predominantly Muslim areas of the former Soviet Union have been featured prominently in Isis propaganda videos and Vladimir Putin estimated that there are up to 7,000 militants from the region in the terror group’s ranks.

The death toll from Tuesday’s attack at Ataturk airport rose to 43 people after a Palestinian woman in her twenties, Sondos Shraim, died of her injuries.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said she was from the West Bank town of Qalqilya and had travelled to Istanbul with her husband and three-year-old child for Ramadan.

Her friend Nisreen Melhim, 28, was also killed, while Ms Melhim's husband and three-year-old daughter were wounded.

The Turkish Interior Minister, Efkan Ala, told parliament 19 foreign nationals were among the victims. The death toll excludes the three suicide bombers.

Out of the 238 who were wounded, 94 remain in hospital, the Istanbul Governor's office reported.

The European Union has said it still wants Turkey make changes to its anti-terrorism laws that EU officials say are used to muzzle dissent – a stance rejected by Turkish officials in the wake of a series of attacks.


 A Turkish police officer stands guard as people walk past near the explosion site on Wednesday at Ataturk airport (OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)
 (AFP/Getty)

“New demands directed at Turkey, that would encourage the terrorists,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

“We can't make any changes in our terrorism laws. Tomorrow maybe, when conditions change.”

He and other high-ranking officials from Ankara were at EU headquarters to resume negotiations on their country's application to join the European Union.

As part of a deal to continue the controversial system seeing migrants whose asylum claims fail deported from Greece to Turkey, the EU wants Turkey to narrow its legal definition of terrorism and amend other laws to bring them in line with its standards.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country holds the revolving EU presidency, indicated the bloc's position remains unchanged following the attack at Ataturk airport.

“We cannot have our agenda being decided by terrorists. We have an agreement with Turkey, we're working on the benchmarks, and that will continue,” he said. “And I hope we come to an agreement.”

Additional reporting by agencies