ISTANBUL – Turkish police on Wednesday detained at least five suspected Islamic State group militants believed to be linked to the deadly Istanbul nightclub attack, the state-run news agency reported.
The operation was launched in the Aegean port city of Izmir and was ongoing, Anadolu Agency said.
WATCH: Turkish officials now know identity of nightclub gunman. Jacob Greaves reports.
The gunman, who killed 39 people during New Year’s celebrations, hasn’t been publicly named and is still at large. But Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said authorities had identified the man, without providing details.
“The identity of the person who carried out the attack on the Reina nightclub has been established,” he told Anadolu in a live televised interview.
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IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, which also wounded nearly 70 people. Of those killed 27 were foreigners, many from the Middle East. The extremists said a “soldier of the caliphate” had carried out the mass shooting to avenge Turkish military operations against IS in northern Syria.
The private Dogan news agency said the police operation targeted three families who had arrived in Izmir about 20 days ago from Konya – a city in central Turkey where the gunman is thought to have been based before carrying out the nightclub attack. It said 27 people, including women and children, were taken into custody.
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At least 14 people were previously detained in connection with the attack, including two foreigners stopped Tuesday at the international terminal of Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport after police checked their cellphones and luggage, according to Anadolu.
READ MORE: Selfie video emerges of alleged gunman in deadly Istanbul nightclub attack
Turkish media reports claimed Tuesday that the gunman’s wife was in custody and had told police she didn’t know her husband was linked to IS. An eerie selfie video emerged of the alleged gunman on Tuesday, showing him silently touring Istanbul’s most famous square. The camera never leaves the man’s unsmiling face as he walked through Taksim Square during the 44-second clip that was broadcast on state-run Anadolu television and other Turkish media.
VIDEO: ‘Selfie video’ shows Turkey New Year’s attack suspect touring Istanbul
Funerals were held in Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Turkey for the dead and on Wednesday, a Turkish Airlines jet carrying the bodies of two Indian citizens killed in the shooting landed in Mumbai. The bodies were received by a governing party lawmaker, and the victims’ relatives and friends.
READ MORE: Istanbul nightclub attack: Eerie video shows New Year’s celebrations moments before deadly attack
Bollywood film producer-realtor Abis Rizvi’s body was taken to his home in suburban Bandra for burial later Wednesday. The 49-year-old Rizvi wrote, produced and directed a Bollywood movie “Roar: The Tigers of Sunderbans,” in 2014 aimed at spreading awareness about tigers.
The other Indian victim of the Istanbul attack was Khushi Shah, a 39-year-old fashion designer from Vadodara, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Shah’s body was flown to her hometown for cremation later Wednesday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
WATCH: Turkey detains more people in connection with Istanbul nightclub attack
Late on Tuesday, Turkey’s parliament voted to extend by a further three months a state of emergency that was declared in the aftermath of the failed July 15 coup. Turkey imposed the state of emergency to crack down on a network linked to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of orchestrating the coup attempt. Gulen denies any involvement.
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Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed to this report from Ankara.
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