ISTANBUL: Selfie footage has emerged of the man who, according to Turkish police, attacked the nightclub in Istanbul on New Year’s Day.

Police released images of the suspected attacker and said they had information about his fingerprints.

The gunman killed a policeman and another man outside the club in the early hours of 2017, before entering and firing at an estimated 600 people partying inside. Some 180 bullets were sprayed at the crowd, leaving 39 people dead. One man survived only because a bullet struck his phone.

Reports said the man could be spotted in Taksim Square.

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Reuters adds: The attack shook NATO member Turkey as it tries to recover from a failed July coup and a series of deadly bombings in cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, some blamed on Islamic State and others claimed by Kurdish militants.

Security services had been on alert across Europe for new year celebrations following an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin that killed 12 people. Only days ago, an online message from a pro-Islamic State group called for attacks by “lone wolves” on “celebrations, gatherings and clubs”.

“At first we thought some men were fighting with each other,” said a Lebanese woman who gave her name as Hadeel and who was in the club with her husband and a friend. “Then we heard the sound of the gunfire and ducked under the tables.

Turkey is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State and launched an incursion into Syria in August to drive the radical Sunni militants from its borders. It also helped broker a fragile ceasefire in Syria with Russia.