ISIS assumes responsibility for church attack in Istanbul

The militant group, the Islamic State (IS), has claimed responsibility for the attack on a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul, where one person was killed.

The attack occurred on Sunday, January 28, during a service.

The extremist group said through a statement that it carried out “attacks at a rally of Christian unbelievers during a celebration of their pagan” at the Church of St. Mary in Istanbul's Buyukdere district.

Turkey's Interior Minister Ali Yerlicaya said in late hours Sunday that two people, who he said were members of the IS, were arrested in connection with the attack. According to him, one is from Tajikistan and the other from Russia.

The statement through which the IS claimed responsibility for the attack was published in Aamaq, the media arm of the IS, along with pictures of two masked and armed men who, according to the militant group, carried out the attack.

The IS said one person was killed in the attack and another injured, but Turkish authorities have claimed one person has been killed but there are no more injuries.

Yerlikaya said police have raided 30 locations and arrested 47 people as part of the investigation into the attack.

“Never will we tolerate those who try to undermine peace in our state”, the Turkish minister said.

On 3 January, 25 suspected IS members were arrested throughout Turkey, under suspicion of planning attacks on churches and synagogues, state news agency Anadolu reported.

The IS in the past had not carried out attacks on shrines in Turkey, but has carried out a series of deadly attacks across the country, including an attack on a nightclub in 2017 in Istanbul, when 39 people were killed. The IS also carried out a 2015 bomb attack in Ankara, killing 109 people.