Suspected suicide bomber determined to be sibling of wanted ISIL member: Reports

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

One of two suspected suicide bombers who were allegedly planning a bomb attack on daily Cumhuriyet’s Ankara bureau was determined to be the sibling of a wanted suspect of the Ankara bombing on Oct. 10. 

One of the two suspects caught in Gaziantep was determined to be the sibling of one of the nine wanted suspects for whom an arrest warrant was issued in absentia for alleged ties to the Ankara bombing, daily Cumhuriyet reported on its website on Oct. 31. 

Upon a notice that a bombing attack was going to take place, units from the Gaziantep anti-terror police branch closely monitored a vehicle with the two suspects inside. When the suspects realized they were being followed, they stopped the car at Gazi Muhtar Paşa Boulevard, stepped out of the car and threw a hand grenade at the police car, which did not detonate. The suspects fled the scene on foot but were caught after a tag and were taken to the police department for interrogation. 

Two suicide bombing vests, explosives and a hand grenade were found inside the vehicle. 

Daily Cumhuriyet’s Ankara bureau address found

The address of the daily Cumhuriyet’s Ankara bureau was found on one of the suspects, leading to the suspicion that the newspaper was the bombers’ intended target. 

One of the two suspects was identified as the sibling of Mehmet Kadir Cebeal, who is wanted for his part in the Oct. 10 Ankara bombing. Cebeal’s finger prints were found at an ISIL cell house in Gaziantep. 

Two suicide bombers detonated themselves on 10:04 a.m. on Oct. 10, only 35 meters apart in front of the Ankara main train station as people across the country gathered for a peace rally a few weeks before the snap elections on Nov. 1. One of the bombers was later identified as Yunus Emre Alagöz, the brother of Şeyh Abdurrahman Alagöz who was the perpetrator of the July 20 Suruç attack that killed a total of 34 people. The identity of the second suicide bomber is still unknown but thought to be a foreigner, according to the Ankara prosecutor’s office.

Including the two suicide bombers, 102 people were killed in the attack. 

The prosecutor’s office also said that an ISIL sleeper cell based in Gaziantep was behind the twin suicide bombings in Ankara. 

Police are investigating if the two suspects in Gaziantep have a connection to Ankara.