Yesterday, late Saturday, around 30 people were killed and at least 100 wounded in a suicide attack on a wedding party in Gaziantep city, Turkey near the Syrian border, officials said.
Ali Yerlikaya who is Governor of Gaziantep said in a statement that 30 people had been killed and 100 wounded in a hideous terror bomb attack on a wedding ceremony.
In a previous attack, the toll had put the number of dead at 22.
He said that we condemn the traitors who organized and carried out this attack on innocent people.
A ruling Justice and Development Party lawmaker for Gaziantep, Mehmet Erdogan said that it was not clear who was responsible for the suicide bomb attack.
The lawmaker Mehmet Erdogan added that it was the type of attack that could have been launched by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party(PKK) or the Islamic State (IS) group.
A report said that the bomb blast took place in the Sahinbey district of the city. This area has a large number of Kurdish residents, fuelling speculation of Islamic State (IS) jihadist involvement.
Gaziantep MP for the AKP, Samil Tayyar told Dogan news agency that initial information suggests it is Daesh (IS) who did this
He added that It is an area where many of our Kurdish brothers live.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said that its members had been present at the wedding party which was also attended by many children and women.
Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said that the aim of terror is to scare the people but we will not allow this. He added that a suicide bombing was the likely cause.
Gaziantep has become a hub for Syrians fleeing the civil war in their country, a major city lying just 60 kilometers north of the Syrian border.
The dead bodies covered with the white cloth in the wedding party, while distraught relatives of the victims were comforted in the street.
In this year, militant attacks hit the Turkey many times and have left a large number of people dead.
IS suicide bombers have twice killed tourists in the center of Istanbul, while Kurdish militants have twice struck in Ankara in deadly attacks.
Recently, a month ago, the country is still reeling from a failed coup blamed on the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.
The Broadcasting regulator of Turkey RTUK banned broadcast of footage from the site of the attack in Gaziantep.
Head of Information and Communication Agency (BTK), Omer Fatih Sayan told Anadolu news agency that those sharing images of the site of the attack in Gaziantep would face prosecution.
