Turkey not sure if wedding party bomber a child

A suicide bomber said to be between 12 and 14 years old carried out an attack on a wedding in Turkey on Saturday that killed at least 51 people.

The child allegedly sent by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) to blow up a wedding party in Turkey killed at least 22 other children under the age of 14 in the August 20 attack, according to Turkish authorities.

Twenty-nine victims were under the age of 18, reports said, with one official saying 22 were under the age of 14.

One mother, Emine Ayhan, lost 4 of her 5 children in the bombing while her husband is in intensive care, the Yeni Safak daily said.

A total of 44 victims have been identified and laid to rest so far, and an autopsy for other bodies are still ongoing, it added.

The bride and the groom were wounded in the attack, the report said.

Halil Ilter said he was at home when he heard the blast and rushed to the scene to check on his relatives.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Monday said speculation that a child was responsible was based on rumors from witnesses. Many in Turkey feel the government has not done enough to protect its citizens from the Islamic State.

In an earlier written statement, Erdogan said there is “no difference” between Islamic State, the militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK, and followers of USA -based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he blames for a coup attempt last month.

Turkish army howitzers stationed inside Turkey, shelled DAESH targets in Jarablus and the PKK’s Syrian affiliate Democratic Union Party’s (PYD) areas in northern Manbij late Monday, a Turkish official said.

Kurdish fighters have become USA allies in the battle against ISIS in Syria and Iraq and played a major role in driving the group out of Manbij this month. In Nigeria, Human Rights Watch said that since 2009, it has recruited possibly thousands of youngsters and used dozens as suicide bombers.

“Daesh should be completely cleansed from our borders and we are ready to do what it takes for that”, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a news conference in Ankara. Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said the “barbaric” attack in Gaziantep, near the border with Syria, on Saturday appeared to be a suicide bombing.

In the past year, Turkey has suffered a series of extremist attacks by Kurdish militants and radical Islamists, the deadliest being a double bombing on a peace rally in Ankara and a triple suicide bombing at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport.

The attack in Gaziantep, near Turkey’s border with Syria on Saturday, killed at least 51 people and wounded almost 70 other people.

The wedding was for a member of the Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, which has deep ties to Syrian Kurdish fighters who have battled ISIS for almost five years.