Two masked men attack an Italian church in Istanbul, one person dead

Two masked men attacked a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul during a Sunday Mass, killing one person. The armed assailants attacked the Santa Maria Church in the Sariyer district at 11:40 am, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement on the X.

Local media said the person killed had the initials CT and was 52 years old. Hours later, Yerlikaya announced that two men he described as members of the Islamic State extremist movement had been arrested as the suspected attackers, The Associated Press reported. One of the suspects is from Tajikistan and the other from Russia, he said at a news conference just after midnight.

Yerlikaya said police had raided 30 locations and detained a total of 47 people as part of the investigation into the attack. “We will never tolerate those who try to disrupt the peace of our country — terrorists, their collaborators, both national and international criminal groups, and those who aim at our unity and solidarity,” Yerlikaya said.