Istanbul nightclub attack kills 39 in New Year carnage

Thirty-nine people, including many foreigners, were killed when a gunman reportedly dressed as Santa Claus stormed an Istanbul nightclub as revelers were celebrating the New Year, the latest carnage to rock Turkey after a bloody 2016.

The assailant shot dead a policeman and a civilian at the entrance to the Reina club, one of the city's most exclusive nightspots, and then went on a shooting rampage inside, Turkish officials said.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the attacker escaped and was now the target of a major manhunt, expressing hope the suspect "would be captured soon".

Soylu said in televised comments that of 21 victims who have been identified so far, 16 are foreigners and five are Turks. Another 69 people are being treated in hospital.

"The attacker -- in the most brutal and merciless way -- targeted innocent people who had only come here to celebrate the New Year and have fun," Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said at the scene on the shores of the Bosphorus.

Many revellers threw themselves into the water in panic and efforts were under way to rescue them, NTV television said.

Dogan news agency said there were two gunmen dressed in Santa Claus outfits, although this has yet to be confirmed.

Television pictures showed party-goers -- including men in suits and women in cocktail dresses -- emerging from the nightclub in a state of shock.

Sahin said the attack began at 1:15 am Sunday (2215 GMT), just after hundreds of revellers had seen in 2017 at the club in the Ortakoy district on the European side of the city.

"What happened today is a terror attack," he said.

Dogan reported that some witnesses claimed the assailants were "speaking Arabic" while NTV said special force police officers were still searching the club.

There has been no claim of responsibility.

The attack evoked memories of the November 2015 carnage in Paris when Islamic State jihadists went on a gun and bombing rampage on nightspots in the French capital, killing 130 people including 90 at the Bataclan concert hall.

- 'Walking on top of people' -

From Sydney to Paris, Rio to London, security had been boosted over fears that the New Year festivities could present a target for violent extremists.

In Istanbul, at least 17,000 police officers were deployed and some, as is customary in Turkey, dressed themselves as Santa Claus as cover, according to television reports.

"Just as we were settling down, by the door there was a lot of dust and smoke. Gunshots rang out. When those sounds were heard, many girls fainted," professional footballer Sefa Boydas told AFP.

"They say 35 to 40 died but it's probably more because when I was walking, people were walking on top of people."

Dogan said there were at least 700 revellers at the elite club, where getting past the bouncers who seek out only the best dressed is notoriously hard.

Turkey has been hit by a wave of attacks blamed on Kurdish militants and IS jihadists and 2016 saw more attacks than any other year in the history of the country.

On December 10, 44 people were killed in a double bombing in Istanbul after a football match hosted by top side Besiktas, an attack claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) seen as a radical offshoot of the outlawed PKK rebel group.

In June, 47 people were killed in a triple suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbul's Ataturk airport, with authorities blaming IS.

And in one of the most brazen strikes, an off-duty policeman assassinated Russia's ambassador to Turkey in an Ankara art gallery less than two weeks ago.

- 'Tragic start to 2017' -

"No terror attack will destroy our unity, or eradicate our fraternity or weaken Turkey's effective fight against terror," Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag wrote on Twitter.

Mainly Muslin Turkey's religious affairs agency Diyanet condemned the attack, saying the fact it took place in a nightclub "was no different to it being in a market or place of worship".

Turkey is still reeling from a failed July coup blamed by the government on the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen that has been followed by a relentless purge of his alleged supporters from state institutions.

"Tragic start to 2017 in Istanbul," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.

The White House condemned the "savagery" of the attack, with National Security Council spokesman Ned Price saying that Washington reaffirmed its support for its NATO ally "in our shared determination to confront and defeat all forms of terrorism".

The US embassy warned citizens that extremist groups are continuing "aggressive efforts to conduct attacks in areas where US citizens and expatriates reside or frequent."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is in Istanbul for the New Year, had been informed of the attack, local media said.

The shooting spree came as the Turkish army wages a four-month incursion in Syria to oust IS jihadists and Kurdish militants from the border area, suffering increasing casualties.

As is customary after such attacks in Turkey, the authorities slapped a broadcast ban on images from the incident.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

New York's Times Square abuzz with New Year's Eve excitement

NEW YORK - Tens of thousands of merrymakers converged on Times Square on Saturday evening, hours before the giant New Year's Eve ball makes its midnight descent, a century-old New York tradition unfolding this year under an unprecedented blanket of security.

As many as 2 million people, surrounded by a ring of 40-ton sand trucks and some 7,000 police, are expected to gather in the "Crossroads of the World" to watch the kaleidoscopic sphere complete its minute-long drop, marking the beginning of 2017.

By sunset, a veritable sea of humanity had already streamed into the V-shaped plaza and down the avenues that cross at the square. Organizers handed out purple-and-gold "2017" top hats as police herded the revelers into temporary corrals designed for crowd control, each holding about hundreds of people. Anyone who leaves, even for a bathroom break, will lose his or her spot, according to the official website.

Michelle Adkins was so excited to be at America's most celebrated New Year's fete that she left her sleepy friend behind at the hotel and headed for the bright lights long before the witching hour.

"I've waited my whole life to see Times Square," said Adkins, 51, who works in a tire manufacturing plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. "I didn't come to New York to sleep! I ain't got no time for sleep!"

Even though city and federal officials say they are not aware of any credible threats, a protective perimeter of 65 hulking sanitation trucks filled with sand, as well as about 100 other smaller vehicles, encircled the Times Square area.

Placed in strategic positions, the "blockers" are intended to prevent a repetition of the truck attacks in Berlin and Nice earlier this year, officials said.

Despite the heavy police presence, or perhaps because of it, throngs of people, many from overseas, arrived early to get a prime view of festivities, which include live musical performances by Mariah Carey, Thomas Rhett and Gloria Estefan.

John O'Leary, 57, his wife, Claire, 51, and their two children were passing through Times Square on Saturday afternoon during a visit from their native England.

"It's just amazing," O'Leary said. "I just can't believe how they can manage all this, in terms of security."

For New York in winter, temperatures were relatively comfortable at just above 40F (5C) under cloudy skies, though the city warned of intermittent wind gusts.

At 11:59 p.m. (0459 GMT), the ball, formed by nearly 2,700 crystal triangles and lit by 32,000 lights, will begin to slide down a pole that sits atop a building at the head of the plaza. When it completes its descent at midnight, a giant "2017" sign will illuminate and a shower of fireworks will light up the sky.

CIRCLE OF TRUCKS

It is not the first time that New York has set up a perimeter of heavy trucks at large gatherings. The same strategy helped protect crowds at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in November, after Islamic State militants encouraged followers to target the event, which drew about 3.5 million people.

At times since Donald Trump's election in November, blocker trucks have been positioned near Trump Tower, his Fifth Avenue headquarters and residence, a short distance from Times Square. The president-elect is spending the holidays in Florida.

For New Year's Eve, New York also deployed heavily armed police teams, snipers, bomb-sniffing dogs and helicopters. Coast Guard and police vessels patrolled waterways around Manhattan.

U.S. defense and security agencies said they believed the threat of militant attacks inside the United States was low during the New Year's holiday, though the possibility of an attack, no matter how remote, was always present, they said.

Likewise, New York Police Commissioner James O'Neill said at a briefing this week that there were "no direct concerns" related to this year's festivities in Times Square.

Even so, he said, "we are going to have one of the most-policed, best-protected events and one of the safest venues in the entire world given all the assets we deploy here."

Chicago, San Francisco and other big U.S. cities have also put heavy security in place to protect crowds expected to gather at public fireworks displays and other "first night" events.

In Washington, where federal budget cuts have done away with traditional New Year's Eve fireworks on the National Mall, no major events were planned. Police declined to comment on any special security plans, saying only that events across the world are monitored for their potential impact on the U.S. capital. (Additional reporting by Chris Francescani in New York, Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio, Steve Orlofsky and Nick Zieminski)

source: news.abs-cbn.com