A bomb explosion at a Kurdish wedding in southern Turkey has left at least 30 people dead, according to local authorities.
ADVERTISEMENTA bomb explosion at a Kurdish wedding in southern Turkey has left at least 30 people dead, according to local authorities.
Nearly 100 were injured; ambulances rushed to take people to hospital in the immediate aftermath.
The attack appears to have hit when a large group of people from the wedding party took to the streets in celebration.
The blast happened in the city of Gaziantep close to the Syrian border. There was no immediate claim of responsiblity – but at least one official from the ruling AK Party has said that so-called Islamic State militants are thought to be to blame.
The Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said the attack was probably carried out by a suicide bomber.
The death toll in #Gaziantep bombing rises to 30. More then 90 injured. #Turkey
— Mustafa Bağ (@mustafa__bag) August 21, 2016
Death toll in #Turkey wedding bombing rises to 30 https://t.co/NzGZshhAQPpic.twitter.com/9mf6dTocRl
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) August 21, 2016
Earlier in the day the extremist group reportedly fired a mortar from Syrian soil into Turkey, and ISIL fighters pass relatively easily across the border.
Turkey has been hit by a series of bombings over the past year and last month’s attempted military coup has brought a massive government crackdown.
The Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said Turkey will take a more active role in addressing the conflict in Syria in the next six months to prevent the war-torn country being divided along ethnic lines.