ISTANBUL: A gun and bomb attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk international airport has killed at least 41 people including 13 foreign nationals and injured more than 140, officials say.

Three attackers opened fire near an entry point to the terminal late on Tuesday and blew themselves up after police fired at them, officials say.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said early signs suggested the so-called Islamic State was behind the attack.

Recent bombings have been linked to either IS or Kurdish separatists.

Tuesday’s attack looked like a major co-ordinated assault.
Ataturk airport was long seen as a vulnerable target, our Turkey correspondent adds, reporting from a plane stuck on the tarmac in Istanbul.

There are X-ray scanners at the entrance to the terminal but security checks for cars are limited.

Pictures from the airport terminal showed bodies covered in sheets, with glass and abandoned luggage littering the building.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attack should serve as a turning point in the global fight against militant groups.

“The bombs that exploded in Istanbul today could have gone off at any airport in any city around the world,” he said.

The US called the attack “heinous”, saying America remained “steadfast in our support for Turkey”.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: “We grieve for the victims. We stand by Turkey”.