Turkish channel broadcasts footage showing men 'transporting Khashoggi body parts'

CCTV footage claiming to show men carrying bags containing the body parts of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi have been broadcasted by a Turkish television channel, with Ankara still investigating the killing.

Footage released by A-Haber television channel allegedly shows men entering the Saudi consul general's residence, around the time of Khashoggi's murder, carrying five suitcases and two large bags.

Sources told the broadcaster that the cases contained the remains of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and that the men had travelled from the kingdom's consulate where the journalist is believed to have been murdered.

A-Haber said the bags were put into a minibus which travelled the short distance from the consulate to a garage at the residence and then taken inside.

The men are believed to be part of a murder squad sent from Saudi Arabia to Turkey to kill the journalist, who had been critical of the kingdom's de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The killing has led to an international backlash against the powerful crown prince, although Riyadh insists Prince Mohammed was not involved in the murder and instead said "rogue" agents carried out the operation.

Read also: Khashoggi and the Arab Spring - A Saudi counter-revolution

Audio footage of Khashoggi's murder suggests that the journalist was strangled before being dismembered by a team of 15 Saudis.

Turkish investigators have searched the consulate and the consul general's residence but Khashoggi's body has still not been found.

Riyadh had repeatedly rejected Turkish demands to extradite suspects connected to the murder.

Questions remain about what happened to the bags once they entered the consul-general's building.

Turkish sources have said investigators found traces of acid in the consul-general's residence with the case said to be centered on a well-shaft outside the building.

Other Turkish officials have also suggested that the body parts were "vaporised" in acid following the killing, which would explain the lack of success by Turkish police and intelligence in uncovering the remains of Khashoggi.

Khashoggi was reportedly murdered at the Saudi consulate on 2 October when he was tricked into entering the building to complete paperwork.

A murder squad was said to be waiting for the journalist with Khashoggi's last words reported to be "I'm suffocating... take this bag off my head, I'm claustrophobic".

Khashoggi was one of the Arab world's best-known journalists and had recently worked as a columnist in the US, where he was living in exile.

Agencies contributed to this story.