Istanbul attack: Turkey kill 18 Isis militants in Syria 24 hours after nightclub shooting

Warplanes and artillery strike hundreds of targets

Turkey says it has killed 18 Isis fighters and injured 37 more in the aftermath of a deadly attack on an Istanbul night club.

Isis claimed responsibility on Monday for the massacre at the exclusive Reina bar on the banks of the Bosphorus, in which at least 39 people died and around 69 injured.

The terrorist group, which declared Syria part of its caliphate in 2014, said the nightclub attack was “revenge” for Turkey’s operations in the war-torn country.

Announcing the casualties on Tuesday in a summary of its operations over 24 hours, the military said its warplanes had destroyed four Isis targets and that Russian aircraft had hit jihadis in Dayr Kak, eight kilometres south-west of the Isis-controlled town of al-Bab.

Turkey’s Chief of General Staff told the state-owned Anadolu Agency Turkey had struck more than 100 jihadist targets in Syria immediately after the nightclub attack.

He said Turkish jets had struck eight Isis targets while tanks and artillery opened fire on 103 targets near the al-Bab stronghold.

Anti-terrorism squads have meanwhile arrested eight people in connection with the attack on the Istanbul nightclub, in which more than 100 bullets were fired into a 600-strong crowd of people celebrating the New Year.

Yet a manhunt is still underway for the gunman, believed to be from a Central Asian Nation, and Turkish media have released a video of a man they believe carried out the attack.

The footage shows a man filming himself with a mobile phone at Istanbul's Taksim square. It wasn't immediately clear if it was filmed before or after the massacre at the nightclub.

No details have been released as to why the authorities might think the man on the video is a suspect in New Year's attack or how the footage was obtained.

Isis' Amaq news agency said the attack was carried out by a “heroic soldier of the caliphate” who attacked the nightclub “where Christians were celebrating their pagan feast.”

It said the man fired an automatic rifle and detonated hand grenades in “revenge for God's religion and in response to the orders” of Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Rumours that Baghdadi was dead were dispelled in December when the Pentagon confirmed they thought he was alive.

Police have identified similarities between the nightclub shooting and the high-casualty attack at Ataturk Airport in June, and are investigating whether the same Isis cell carried out both attacks, the Hurriyet and Karar newspapers reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the country, which lost hundreds of citizens to terrorism over the course of a year, will “fight to the end against terror”.

Mr Erdogan said: “As a nation, we will fight to the end against not just the armed attacks of terror groups and the forces behind them, but also against their economic, political and social attacks.

“They are trying to create chaos, demoralise our people, and destabilise our country with abominable attacks that target civilians.

“We will retain our cool-headedness as a nation, standing more closely together, and we will never give ground to such dirty games.”

Four of the 69 injured were said to be in a serious condition.

Turkish tourism industry professionals have marched to the nightclub in a show of solidarity and in protest against a spate of attacks that has crippled the sector.

About 200 people, including restaurateurs, hotel owners and gastronomy students, took part in the protest, marching behind a large banner that read: “We won't be daunted! For our tomorrows.”

Security in Turkish cities had been heightened during the run-up to the New Year and 17,000 police officers, some reportedly camouflaged as Santa Claus, were deployed.