'Nothing will change' after attack in Istanbul

11 more foreigners arrested for suspicion of being members of Islamic State cell linked to bombers

Just two days after triple suicide bombings, Istanbul's main international airport is as usual a hive of activity - but with passengers snapping selfies in front of bullet-shattered windows.

Staff at Ataturk airport are trying to pick up the pieces after Tuesday night's attack, which left dozens dead at one of Europe's busiest hubs.

"I don't know how, but only hours after the explosions, the deaths and the injuries, flights were able to run normally again," one tourism executive at the airport said.

Police detained 11 foreigners suspected of being members of an Islamic State cell in Istanbul linked to the suicide bombers who staged the attack, broadcaster Haberturk said on Friday.

The arrests brought the number of people detained in the investigation to 24.

Three suspected IS suicide bombers killed 44 people in the gun and bomb attack on Istanbul's main airport on Tuesday, the deadliest in a string of attacks in Turkey this year.

The suspected suicide bombers were Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals, a Turkish official said on Thursday.

There were few visible signs of extra security at Ataturk airport on Thursday, though Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has promised "specially-trained" staff will be added at the nation's airports.

Smashed windows

In some respects it could be any other day, between the long check-in lines and the hubbub of passengers chatting in Arabic, Portuguese and French.

But these conversations take place besides smashed windows and under a ceiling missing tiles that crashed down during one of the blasts.

Some passengers have their photos taken in front of this grim new decor, as workers try to repair the damage as best they can.

Passengers must pass through security scanners to enter the arrival and departure halls - but at the exit gates, an AFP reporter saw only a guard armed with a baton.

It was at one of these exits that an attacker was able to penetrate the building before blowing himself up, according to several witnesses.

An airport guard said another bomber "went through the security barrier shooting at the guards".

"The terrorists were wearing big black coats and their guns were hidden under them," said taxi driver Akin Duman.

"It was very hot - it was their clothing that gave them away."

(China Daily 07/02/2016 page8)