Deceased St Petersburg metro attacker was deported from Turkey in 2016

Ankara: A Turkish security official says the suicide bomber accused of the deadly attack on the subway in the Russian city of St Petersburg was deported from Turkey in 2016.

Akbardzhon Dzhalilov, a 22-year-old native of Kyrgyzstan, blew himself up on a busy subway line on April 3, killing himself and 13 other people. Dozens of others were injured.

The official said on Thursday that Dzhalilov had entered Turkey in November 2015 on a tourist visa and was deported to Russia in December 2016 for violating Turkey's visa laws. He was fined and barred from re-entering Turkey for 120 days, the official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists without authorisation.