ISTANBUL // The attacker who shot dead 39 people on New Year's Day at an Istanbul nightclub has been identified as an Uzbek militant who belongs to ISIL.
The Hurriyet daily reported that he has the code name Abu Mohammed Horasani within ISIL. There was no official confirmation of the report.
There had been confusion over the identity of the attacker — who remains on the run — with reports initially suggesting a Kyrgyz national and then a Chinese Uighur.
But intelligence services and antiterror police in Istanbul have identified the man as a 34-year-old Uzbek who is part of a Central Asian ISIL cell, Hurriyet and other Turkish newspapers reported.
The killer slipped into the night after killing 27 foreigners and 12 Turkish nationals at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul just 75 minutes into 2017.
Despite an intense manhunt, he remains on the run, with some reports saying he is still believed to be in Istanbul.
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ISIL in Turkey
■ With nothing to lose, ISIL shows its hand in Turkey
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Turkish police last week released images of the attacker, including a chilling silent video taken in central Istanbul with a selfie stick.
Uzbekistan clamped down on extremists after the fall of the Soviet Union under the secular rule of Islam Karimov who died in 2016.
ISIL militants from Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as well as from the Russian regions of Dagestan and Chechnya are believed to have played a key role in the triple suicide bombings and gun attack at Istanbul's main airport in June.
ISIL said one of its terrorists carried out the Istanbul nightclub attack, the first time it has ever clearly admitted to a major attack in the country despite being blamed for several strikes including the airport bombings.
* Agence France-Presse
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