15 held in as investigators try to identify female suicide bomb attacker

Fifteen people were arrested on Thursday in connection with a suicide bomb attack which wounded 13 people in the Turkish city of  Bursa. They were detained as the authorities try to identify the female bomber who blew herself up near a mosque in the historic district of the city. The suspects were detained in Bursa, Istanbul and two other cities, according to interior minister Efkan Ala. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and authorities have refused to speculate on the identity and possible affiliation of the attacker.

Fifteen people have been detained in connection with the Bursa attack. There are strong indications that it is related to a group

Interior minister Efkan Ala

Wednesday’s bombing took place near Bursa’s 14th century Grand Mosque, a historic symbol of the city that was the first capital of the Ottoman empire. Of the 13 who were hurt, eight were still in hospital on Thursday but none of them suffered life-threatening injuries. The bomber was “aged about 25” but there was little left of her body to make a positive identification, ministers said. The attack came a day after the U.S. issued a new warning to its citizens about “credible indications” of terrorist threats against tourist areas in Turkey.

This was an attack aimed at our nation, our people, our peace. Thank God, no citizen was critically wounded

Prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu