At least 50 killed as ‘Islamic State suicide bomber’ strikes at wedding party

The death toll from a suspected suicide bomb attack on a wedding party in Turkey was lifted to 50 on Sunday. They were killed as they danced in the streets in the city of Gaziantep, which is close to the Syrian border. Dozens more wounded were still being treated in hospitals around the province. Blood stains and burns marked the walls of the narrow lane where the bomb went off while women in white and checkered scarves cried sitting crosslegged and waiting outside the morgue for word on missing relatives.

The celebrations were coming to an end and there was a big explosion among people dancing. There was blood and body parts everywhere.

Witness Veli Can, 25

The attack was the latest in a string of strikes blamed on Kurdish and Islamist militants and follows a deadly botched coup last month. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement early Sunday denouncing the bombing and saying Islamic State was “the most likely perpetrator”. Mr Erdogan said there was “absolutely no difference” between IS, Kurdish rebels and the coup plotters, calling them terrorist groups. “These bloodthirsty organizations and the powers behind them have neither the will nor power to silence the calls to prayer, lower the flag, divide our motherland and break up our nation,” he added.

This is a massacre of unprecedented cruelty and barbarism. We … are united against all terror organizations. They will not yield.

Deputy prime minister Mehmet Simsek

Turkey