The woman arrested on suspicion of carrying out Sunday’s deadly bomb blast in Istanbul is a Syrian national who was trained by Kurdish fighters, Turkish authorities said.   

  Turkish police said in a statement that the suspect entered the country through the northern Syrian city of Afrin without documents to carry out the attack in the heart of Turkey’s largest city, which killed at least six people and wounded more than 80 others.   

  Officers scanned 1,200 security cameras to determine the route of the suspected attacker, who allegedly planted the bomb at the scene before leaving in a taxi, according to the statement.  About 46 people were arrested, police added.   

  Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said earlier that the government believed Kurdish separatists from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) were likely responsible for the attack, a claim denied by the PKK’s armed wing .   

  “It is a PKK/PYD terrorist organization according to our preliminary findings,” Soylu told a news conference at the scene of the attack on Istiklal Avenue.  He did not elaborate or provide details on how the researchers reached this conclusion.   

  The police added: “In their interrogation, the person stated that he was trained as a special intelligence service by the terrorist organization PKK/PYD/YPG and that he illegally entered our country through Afrin for this attack.”   

  The People’s Defense Forces (HPG), the PKK’s armed wing, denied involvement in Sunday’s blast, according to a statement from the group carried by the pro-PKK Agence News Firat (ANF).   

  “We express our condolences to the relatives of the victims and wish the injured a speedy recovery.  We have nothing to do with this incident,” the group said, according to ANF.   

  Turkey’s conflict with Kurdish separatist groups has lasted four decades and cost tens of thousands of lives.  The PKK, which seeks an independent state in Turkey, has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.   

  Security camera footage of Sunday’s incident shows a woman sitting on a bench for more than 40 minutes and then getting up a minute or two before the explosion, leaving behind a handbag or plastic bag, the Turkish justice minister said. Bekir Bozdag on A Haber news channel.  Sunday.   

  Explosive TNT was found on civilians who died, in the vehicle used by the suspect and at the crime scene, according to a chemical analysis conducted by police.   

  The blast occurred on Istiklal Street in Beyoglu Square, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said.   

  “We wish God’s mercy to those who lost their lives and speedy recovery to the injured,” Yerlikaya wrote on Twitter.   

  The six dead included Yusuf Meydan, a member of Turkey’s Ministry of Family and Social Services, and his daughter Ecrin, according to Derya Yanık, the ministry’s minister.   

  Soilou told reporters on Monday that 50 of the 81 injured have been discharged from hospital, while 31 people are still being treated.   

  Witness Tariq Keblaoui said he was shopping on Istiklal Street when the explosion occurred about 10 meters (32.8 feet) in front of him.   

  “People scattered immediately,” said Keblawi, a Lebanon-based journalist who was on the last day of his vacation in the city.   

  “Very shortly after, I could see how many wounded people were on the ground,” Keblawi told CNN.  He says he saw dead bodies and victims who were seriously injured.   

  “There was a man in the store bleeding from his ears and legs and his friends were crying near him,” Keblawi said.   

  Istiklal Street was full of visitors when the explosion occurred on Sunday afternoon, he said.   

  “It went very quickly from a very peaceful Sunday with a very busy street full of tourists to what looked like the aftermath of a war zone,” Keblaoui said.   

  World leaders are united in condemning the attack.   

  NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted his “heartfelt condolences” to the Turkish people, while French President Emmanuel Macron said: “To the Turks: we share your pain.  We stand by you in the fight against terrorism.”   

  The United States “strongly condemns the act of violence that occurred today in Istanbul,” White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said Sunday.  “Our thoughts are with those injured and our deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones.”   

  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted his “deep sadness” at news of the blast.  “I express my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” Zelenskiy said.  “The pain of the friendly Turkish people is our pain.”