Besiktas hit by twin terror attack, 29 killed

Turkey's interior minister Suleyman Soylu has confirmed that 29 people were killed and another 166 wounded in two terror attacks close to Besiktas' Vodafone Arena on Saturday.

Published : Dec 11, 2016 08:47 IST , Istanbul

Turkey's interior minister Suleyman Soylu has confirmed that 29 people were killed and another 166 wounded in two terror attacks close to Besiktas' Vodafone Arena on Saturday.

The bombings took place around 90 minutes after Besiktas had defeated Bursaspor 2-1 in a Super Lig fixture at the stadium.

Deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus confirmed one of the attacks had been the explosion of a car bomb while the second was the act of a suicide bomber.

At a media conference on Sunday, Soylu announced that 27 police officers and two civilians had been killed in the explosions.

The Turkish Football Federation condemned the attacks, while Bursaspor confirmed their supporters had exited the stadium close to the scene of the attack before the explosion.

Besiktas, meanwhile, posted on Twitter to declare: "Terrorism will never destroy the spirit, courage and resilience of our people. #Besiktas JK."

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