Mall Massacre with Microwave Oven 'Bombs' Thwarted In Istanbul

Turkey's anti-terror police foiled an attempt to carry out an Islamist-motivated bomb attack on Istanbul mall after a search operation was launched on October 27 following two consecutive explosions that took place in two buildings in Esenyurt and Arnavutköy districts.

During the search operation inside the Forum Istanbul mall, police found four microwave ovens filled with explosives, which had been placed inside safety deposits.

According to the police, militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were planning to carry out a three-phase bomb plan, The Hurriyet Daily reports.

According to the report, ISIL militants bought microwave ovens from separate shops inside the mall. After stuffing them with explosives, they went back to the mall, telling security guards at the entrance that there was a problem with the ovens and therefore they wanted to return them.

Security guards of the mall then put the bomb-laden ovens inside safety deposits.

ISIL planned to detonate the bombs inside the ovens via remote control as part of the first step of their massacre plan, the authorities stated, adding that the second phase included detonating the explosives in the car and the motorcycle while people were trying to escape.

The final attack would have come after people rushed to help the victims of the blasts, with ISIL militants wearing suicide vests blowing themselves up inside the crowds.

Meanwhile, the investigations have also revealed that the explosions in Arnavutköy and Esenyurt were carried out by ISIL in order to divert the police’s attention.

Police targeted a number of jihadist cells in Istanbul after the incident, while also staging raids across Turkey and detaining dozens of suspected militants.