Turkish police arrest masked man after five people stabbed

Istanbul: Turkish police have arrested an 18-year-old masked man after five people were wounded in a stabbing attack in the northwestern city of Eskisehir, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported on Tuesday.

Wearing a helmet, a skull face covering and bulletproof vest, the attacker stabbed five people sitting in the garden of a mosque, leaving two in a critical condition, according to other media reports.

Turkish media broadcast a video apparently filmed by the assailant as he rushed through the garden area, with people fleeing as he approached.

Anadolu said the man had carried out the attack under the influence of video games, but did not specify a source for the assertion.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday that police detained the suspect after what he described as a random attack.

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the incident, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on X. (Reporting by Burcu Karakas; Editing by Daren Butler and Crispian Balmer)