Rep. Michael McCaul, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, on Wednesday said the Islamic State terror group is “most likely” responsible for the deadly suicide bombing attacks in Turkey on Tuesday.
Mr. McCaul said the Istanbul attack is like a “sequel” to attacks at an airport and metro station in Brussels, Belgium, in March, though it’s far more deadly than the Brussels attacks were.
“ISIS has now identified a soft target that they hit in Brussels. I believe this is most likely an ISIS attack just yesterday in Istanbul, and so it’s very difficult to harden that kind of soft target,” Mr. McCaul, Texas Republican, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
More than 40 people were killed and many others wounded in suicide bombing attacks carried out on Tuesday at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim saying early indications suggest the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, was responsible for the attacks.
Mr. McCaul said that for a while, Turkey had been allowing foreign fighters to pass through in order to battle Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“I think with ISIS attacking Turkey now, you’re seeing Turkey take a different response to ISIS and become a part of that fight,” Mr. McCaul said. “That’s also put them in the bullseye and made them a target for ISIS as well.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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