Istanbul nightclub victim had 'survived previous terror attack' as police hunt for killer

As police hunt for the gunman who killed 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub, it emerged that one of the victims had managed to survive a terrorist attack only weeks before.

The Daily Sabah newspaper reported that security guard Fatih Çakmak had been on duty on 10 December when twin bombings claimed by Kurdish militant group the TAK were carried out by Istanbul's Vodafone Arena stadium, killing 45 people.

Çakmak managed to get away unharmed only to die on New Year's as details of the other victims were revealed.

Some 25 foreigners were among the dead, including victims from Lebanon, Jordan, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Iraq.

CCTV showed the killer opening fire outside Raina nightclub club and he appeared to remove some of his clothes while dead victims surrounded him on the dance floor. He managed to escape before Turkish special forces arrived.

The Site Institute, which monitors terrorist groups, raised the alarm that Isis was undertaking a new campaign of attacks, in particular against Turkey due to its support for Russia in tackling Islamists in Syria.

Isis leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, says his followers must "seek help in Allah and attack Turkey, turn their security into panic, and their calm into chaos".

Meanwhile, Britain's security minister Ben Wallace warned Isis was looking to undertake a chemical weapons attack in the UK and that terrorist groups, Russia and cyberattackers were trying to plant "traitors" in the government, the military and businesses.

"Experts have warned that their ambition is a mass casualty attack and they have no moral barrier to using whatever means possible," he said.

"There are traitors. We have to be on our guard," he said. "The insider threat, as we would call it, is real and it can be exploited and there are people trying to do that as we speak," he said, according to The Times.

No one has claimed responsibility for the latest killings and Turkish officials have not commented on motives of the gunman. At least 69 people are being treated in hospital with three in a serious condition.