Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday that the Islamic State militant group was behind the Istanbul bomb attack that killed 10 people and wounded 15 others. Davutoglu added that Turkey is determined to battle the militant group until it no longer "remains a threat" to the country or the world.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said earlier that a suicide bomber of Syrian origin was behind the attack. Most of those killed in the attack were German citizens, according to Turkish officials. The local Dogan news agency said the explosion occurred at the city's historic Sultanahmet Square, which is close to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia and is very popular with tourists.

In October last year, two suicide bombings at a peace rally in the Turkish capital Ankara killed 102 people and injured 240 others. The Turkish police then detained around 50 foreign nationals in a sweep targeting people suspected of having links with the Islamic State group.