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By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 2 January 2016:
The foreign ministry in Tripoli says that one Libyan was killed in the new year terrorist attack in Istanbul. Three others were wounded it adds. According to the Libyan news agency LANA, the Presidency Council’s foreign minister Mohamed Taher Siala has ordered the Libyan Consulate in Istanbul to deal with matters as necessary.
However, the statement contradicts both the official Turkish casualty list, which has no Libyans among the dead. It also contradicts a reported statement from the Libyan embassy in Ankara that no Libyans were among the dead or wounded. A Turkish official confirmed to the Libya Herald that no Libyans had been killed although one had been injured.
The attack early Suday morning on the Reina nightclub, which left 39 people dead, has now been claimed by the so-called Islamic State. The gunman managed to escape. Although the Turlkish police say they have arrested eight people, he has not been not been found.
There are suggestions that he may be part of the same IS group responsible for the Istanbul airport attack last June in which 45 people were killed (plus the three attackers), and some 230 people injured.
