News Digest

A picnic, talk of building a nursery and then suicide bomber kills dozens

A suicide bomber killed 27 people and injured another 100 in an attack on the Turkish city of Suruc near the Syrian border on Monday. The attacker struck at a cultural center as a political group, the Federation of Socialist Youths, was holding a news conference on plans to rebuild the Syrian city of Kobani. Witness Fatma Edemen, 22, said the federation of about 200 youths was pressing for access to help reconstruction in Kobani, a city which has become a symbol of Kurdish resistance. Suspicion immediately fell on the Islamic State group, which lost the city in one of its heaviest defeats.

One of my friends protected me. First I thought ‘I am dying’ but I was OK. I started to run after I saw the bodies.

Witness Fatma Edemen

The Federation of Socialist Youth Associations is reported to have had at least 300 members staying at the Amara Culture Center. Graphic images of the scene immediately after the blast were tweeted by the federation. A photo taken before the blast showed the group in the garden having lunch. Speaking by phone, her voice shaking, Ms Edemen said the group had believed Kobani was relatively safe and ready to rebuild. “Our friends went there and it didn’t seem dangerous at that time. We couldn’t even think something like that would happen,” she said, adding that they hoped to build a kindergarten or something else for children in the devastated city. We wanted to do something, but they would not let us.“

I saw more than 20 bodies. I think the number of wounded is more than 50. They are still being put into ambulances. It was a huge explosion, we all shook.

Witness