36 killed in coordinated suicide attacks at Istanbul airport

According to FCNN, Turkish authorities said that the suicide bombers' attack on Istanbul's Ataturk Airport killed 36 people and injured more than 140 others.

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The death toll, initially reported at 10, has gradually increased throughout the night.

Three attackers were involved in the attack, and according to Turkish news sources, explosions and shootings occurred in the international arrivals terminal.

Flights to and from the airport have been suspended following the attack.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attack and called for a "joint fight against terrorism."

The United States condemned the “heinous” attack and said it “stands firmly in support of Türkiye.”

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also said: “We mourn the victims… and we stand with Türkiye.”

According to the Turkish Justice Minister, one of the attackers opened fire on the crowd with a Kalashnikov. It is reported that when security forces tried to confront the attackers, they detonated their bombs.

In the first minutes after the attack, taxis were also used to transport the wounded to the hospital.

The official Anadolu Agency said about 60 people were injured, six of whom were in critical condition.

The BBC's Mark Lowen, at the scene, says the Istanbul airport attack appears to have been a major, coordinated attack.

Ataturk Airport has always been a vulnerable target, he said. Although there are X-ray machines at the entrance to the terminal, checkpoints for cars are limited.

"Three suicide bombers carried out the attack. 28 people have lost their lives. 60 people have also been injured," the Istanbul governor said.

"We saw a man running around. He was wearing black clothes and had a handgun," Susie Russ, from Cape Town, South Africa, told The Associated Press at the airport.

“Our thoughts are with the victims of the Istanbul airport attacks. We condemn these brutal acts of violence,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, whose capital was attacked in March, tweeted from inside the EU summit in Brussels.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the attack.

“The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Turkey, and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured,” Mr. Ban’s spokesman said.

Mr. Ban stressed the need to intensify regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and violent extremism.

Ataturk Airport overtook Frankfurt Airport last year to become the busiest airport in Europe, behind London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle. In 2015, more than 61 million passengers passed through the airport.

Türkiye has been the scene of numerous violence and suicide attacks in recent months.

In December, an explosion on the runway of another Istanbul airport killed a cleaner.

Recent bombings in the country have been attributed to Kurdish separatists or the Islamic State group (ISIS).

The US State Department first issued a travel warning for Türkiye in March. The warning was repeated on Monday.

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner condemned the attack in a statement on Tuesday night.

Expressing sympathy to the families of the victims, he said: “We stand in solidarity with Turkey, our NATO ally, in the fight against terrorism… These types of attacks only strengthen our resolve to work with the Turkish government to confront the scourge of terrorism…”