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Turkey Wedding Bomb: Suicide Bomber Who Killed 51+ is Teenager

Turkey Wedding Bomb: Suicide Bomber Who Killed 51+ is Teenager
folder_openTurkey access_time7 years ago
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Local Editor

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the suicide bomber who blew himself up at a wedding party in Turkey, killing at least 51, was a child aged as young as 12 years old.

Turkey Wedding Bomb: Suicide Bomber Who Killed 51+ is Teenager

Speaking on national television, Erdogan said the attacker was aged between 12 and 14 and had wounded 69 people, 17 of which were in a critical condition.

"It was clear that Daesh had such an organization in Gaziantep or was attempting to make room for itself in recent times," Erdogan said.

"Many intensive operations were conducted, are being conducted. Of course our security forces will be conducting these operations with even greater intensity."

In further details, the bride and groom were not in a life-threatening condition and were undergoing treatment, the Anadolu news agency reported.

The explosion ripped through the celebrations on Saturday in the city of Gaziantep, in the volatile south east near the border with Syria.

Earlier, Erdogan stated that Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the terrorist "ISIS" group] were likely behind the attack.

The prosecutor's office said a destroyed suicide vest had been discovered at the scene.

At least 12 people were buried on Sunday, but other funerals would have to wait because many of the victims were unidentifiable.

DNA forensics tests would be needed to identify them, security sources said.

Turkish authorities issued a media blackout on coverage of the attack until the investigation is completed.

Turkey is still in a state of emergency following an attempted coup on 15 July, which Ankara blames on US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. He has denied the charge.

In October last year, suicide bombers killed at least 95 people attending a rally of pro-Kurdish and labor activists outside Ankara's main train station.

Violence flared up again this week in the predominantly Kurdish southeast, with separate bombings killing at least 10 people, mostly police and soldiers, in an escalation officials blamed on the Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK].

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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