Turkey seeks to identify child suicide bomber

Gaziantep, Aug 22 (AFP) Turkish authorities were todayscrambling to ascertain the identity of a child suicide bomberacting on the orders of Islamic State (IS) jihadists whokilled 51 people at a crowded Kurdish wedding. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the bomber atthe street wedding late Saturday in the city of Gaziantepclose to Syria was aged "between 12 and 14" and that initialfindings showed it had been "perpetrated by Daesh (IS)". Media said the majority of those dead were children orteenagers, with 29 of the 44 victims identified so far agedunder 18. At least 22 victims were under 14, a Turkishofficial added. There were no further details on the bomber’s identity,but Erdogan said IS had been trying to "position itself" inGaziantep which lies just 60 kilometres (37 miles) north ofSyria and is a major hub for refugees from the over five-yearcivil war. The Hurriyet daily said that DNA tests were under way toascertain the identity, nationality and gender of the bomber. It is possible that the bomber had come over the borderfrom Syria but IS is also known to have built homegrown cellsinside Turkey in Gaziantep and even Istanbul, wrote itswell-connected columnist Abdulkadir Selvi. He said Turkish security forces believed that attack hadbeen timed as retaliation by jihadists for offensives both byKurdish militias and pro-Ankara Syrian opposition forcesagainst IS in Syria. "There’s a fight against IS but we are paying the price,"he wrote. The leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party(HDP) Selahattin Demirtas said in a statement that "all ofthose killed were Kurds". The bride and groom — a couple from the strongly Kurdishregion of Siirt to the southeast — were rushed to hospitalbut not seriously wounded. The attack followed a string of strikes blamed on IS andKurdish militants in the last months but was the deadliest sofar this year and first significant jihadist action in Turkeysince the failed July 15 coup. Hurriyet said the type of bomb used — stuffed withscraps of metal — was similar to the explosives used inprevious suicide bombings against pro-Kurdish gatheringsblamed on IS in the border town of Suruc and at Ankara trainstation last year. All 44 victims identified so far were laid to rest inharrowing ceremonies in Gazinantep on Sunday with relativesthrowing themselves on the coffins in desperation, an AFPcorrespondent said.(AFP)AMS