Gaziantep: Turkey Seeks to Identify Child Bomber
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkish authorities are seeking to ascertain the identity of a child suicide bomber who killed 51 people at a crowded Kurdish wedding acting on the orders of Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group, local media reported on Monday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the bomber at the street wedding late on Saturday in the city of Gaziantep, close to Syria, was aged "between 12 and 14" and that initial findings showed it had been "perpetrated by Daesh".
All 44 victims identified so far were laid to rest in ceremonies in Gazinantep with relatives throwing themselves on the coffins in desperation.
The hillside graveyard was pockmarked before the ceremony with the holes of dozens of freshly dug graves for the victims.
Media reports on Monday said the majority of those dead were children or teenagers, with 29 of the 44 victims identified so far aged under 18. At least 22 victims were under 14, a Turkish official said.
There were no further details on the bomber's identity, but Erdogan said Daesh had been trying to "position itself" in Gaziantep which lies just 60km north of Syria and is a major hub for refugees from the over five-year civil war.
The Hurriyet daily said that DNA tests were under way to ascertain the identity, nationality and gender of the bomber, Al Jazeera reported.
The bride and groom - a couple from the strongly Kurdish region of Siirt to the southeast - were admitted to hospital although their wounds were not serious.
The attack followed a string of strikes blamed on Daesh and Kurdish fighters in the last months but was the deadliest so far this year and first significant action in Turkey since the failed July 15 coup.
Hurriyet said the type of bomb used - stuffed with scraps of metal - was similar to explosives used in previous suicide bombings against pro-Kurdish gatherings blamed on Daesh in the border town of Suruc and at Ankara train station last year.
