Islamic State group claims responsibility for an attack on an Istanbul church

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul during a Sunday Mass that killed one person.

The extremist group said in a statement late Sunday that it "attacked a gathering of Christian unbelievers during their polytheistic ceremony" inside the Santa Maria Church in the Buyukdere neighborhood in Istanbul.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said shortly before midnight that two men he described as members of the Islamic State group had been arrested in the attack. One of the suspects is from Tajikistan and the other from Russia, he said.

The statement claiming responsibility for the attack was published on Aamaq, the media arm of the militant group, along with photos of two masked men holding guns whom it identified as the attackers.

It described the attack as killing one person and wounding another,...