Some of the figures allegedly from the upper echelons of the militant organization fled to Iraq after the attacks and died there, while a portion were captured by security forces.
[1] At approximately 9:30 a.m. local time (UTC+2.00), a bomb-laden truck that had parked in front of the Bet Israel Synagogue on Nakiye Elgün Street in Şişli was detonated.
[1] Approximately four minutes after the first explosion, at around 9:34 a.m., a second attack occurred with the detonation of another bomb-laden truck passing by the Neve Shalom Synagogue on Büyük Hendek Avenue in Beyoğlu.
[8] Five days later, on 20 November, as US President George W. Bush was in the United Kingdom meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair,[9] two more truck bombs exploded.
[12] Approximately five minutes later, at around 11:00 a.m., another bomb-laden truck drove through security and detonated in front of the British Consulate on Meşrutiyet Avenue in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district.
[11] The fire department, civil defense, provincial health directorate, police, and consulate officials dispatched to the area began search-and-rescue operations.
[citation needed] On the day the attacks were carried out, the Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate issued a statement at 4:00 p.m. that 20 people had died and 257 were injured in the bombings.
[18] A few hours later, Health Minister Recep Akdağ announced that the number of deaths was 20 and that 302 people had referred to various hospitals because of the bomb attacks.
[22] The number of casualties rose to 24 on 17 November when the body of a woman was found at the scene of the bombing and later to 25 when a victim receiving treatment at a hospital succumbed to their injuries.
[29] On 28 November, Istanbul Deputy Security Director Halil Yılmaz reported that 28 people had died in the second attacks, shortly thereafter later raising this figure to 30.
[25] Two months later, on 13 January 2004, the number of casualties in the second two attacks rose to 31, when Sefer Gündoğdu, a 35-year-old father of three, passed away at around 5:00 p.m. at Şişli Etfal Hospital after undergoing a series of surgeries.
[37][38] Turkey charged 74 people with involvement in the bombings, including Syrians Loai al-Saqa and Hamid Obysi, and a Turk, Harun Ilhan.
[39] Other reporting indicates that Bac was suspected of preparing the bombs with Fevzi Yitiz, and that Akdas and Ibrahim Kus participated in a meeting with bin Laden in 2002.
[40] Al-Saqa had already been tried in absentia in Jordan for his part, along with al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in the failed poison gas attack in 2002.
[42] A Turkish intelligence official who was part of the investigation said: "They planned and carried out the attack independently after receiving the blessing of bin Laden.