A passenger on board an Istanbul-bound flight claimed there was a bomb on board and tried to hijack the plane to Sochi, Russia, where the Winter Olympics are kicking off, an official says.

Turkish security forces have shot dead a Kurdish rebel hijacker after he commandeered a ferry with 18 passengers on board, authorities said.

A hardline Kurdish militant group claimed responsibility for a major fire at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport today, a pro-Kurdish news agency reported on its website.