Possible al Qaida cell

last updated 8 January 2015

Istanbul

The Islamic-militant cell behind last week’s attack on a Masonic lodge in Istanbul may be linked to al Qaida, the city’s mayor said this week. Muammer Guler said that 18 people had been arrested in connection with the attack, in which two suicide bombers stormed the lodge while 40 Masons were eating dinner. One bomber blew himself up, injuring five lodge members, while the other’s explosives failed to go off. Some of the detainees were trained in Pakistan and Afghanistan. “We do not yet know if these camps were al Qaida camps,” Guler said, “but you know the influence al Qaida has there.”