Briefs | Turkey: Nightclub gunman most probably Uighur

Turkish police are closing in on the gunman who killed 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub, a senior official said yesterday, insisting his possible whereabouts and contacts had been established. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak told A Haber news channel in an interview that gunman who attacked Istanbul’s upscale Reina nightclub during New Year’s celebrations, is most probably from China’s Muslim Uighur minority and was a “specially trained member of a [terror] cell.”

Germany: Tunisian who dined with market attacker arrested

An acquaintance of suspected Berlin Christmas market attacker Anis Amri who dined with him the night before the rampage is under investigation for possible participation in planning the attack, German prosecutors said. He was arrested, but in a separate case. The 26-year-old Tunisian had known Amri since the end of 2015 and the pair ate together at a Berlin restaurant the night before the Dec. 19 attack, said Frauke Koehler, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors. His quarters at a refugee home were searched on Tuesday.