First, they came for Istanbul. On Tuesday night, three suspected Isis militants launched a brazen assault on Turkey’s main airport, exploding their suicide vests after gunning down numerous passengers and airport staff.
At least 45 people were killed. The world panicked; Istanbul Ataturk Airport is one of the busiest hubs in Europe and the Middle East, and it is among the most fortified. Are our airports safe, wondered American TV anchors. Could this happen here on the Fourth of July?
Next, they came for Dhaka. Gunmen whom many have linked to Isis raided a popular cafe in an upscale neighborhood in Bangladesh’s teeming capital.
After a 10-hour stand-off, authorities stormed the establishment; at least 20 hostages, mostly Italian and Japanese nationals, died at the militants’ hands. US college students also were among the dead. Isis’s reach is growing far from the Middle East, security experts fretted. Foreigners are at risk all over the Muslim world.
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