At least 30 killed in Turkish blast near Syrian border

Lucy Kafanov and John Bacon | USA TODAY

ISTANBUL — At least 30 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded in an apparent terrorist attack by a suicide bomber Monday in the Turkish town of Suruc on the Syrian border, Turkey's Interior Ministry said.

Suruc is across the border from the Syrian town of Kobani, the site of fierce battles between Kurdish militia and fighters for the Islamic State also known as ISIS or ISIL. The Islamic State was eventually driven out of Kobani with the help of a Syrian rebel group and blistering airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition.

More than 20,000 Syrian refugees are housed in camps around Suruc, which is separated from Kobani by little more than a fence.

Suruc District Governor Abdullah Çiftçi confirmed Monday's death toll of 30, adding that at least 20 people were in critical condition. The governor of nearby Urfa Province, Izzettin Kucuk, said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, but suspicions focused on the Islamic State. "There is a very high likelihood that this is Islamic State," said Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat now with an Istanbul-based think tank. "The attack comes in the wake of increased police operations against Islamic State members in Turkey, after which ISIS issued messages threatening retaliation."

The Turkish news agency Anadolu said nearly 100 people were treated at state hospitals. A dramatic video broadcast by Turkish media shows dozens of people gathered around the unfurling of a large banner and chanting when the blast suddenly tears through the crowd.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking from North Cyprus, condemned the "brutality."

"I personally and on behalf of my nation condemn and curse those who perpetrated this savagery," Erdogan said at a news conference broadcast on Turkish television, the AP reported.

Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan said in a statement: "Such despicable terrorist attacks on Turkey's integrity and peace will never reach their goal."

Later in the day, hundreds of people in Istanbul demonstrated against the attack in Suruc, but the largely peaceful gathering was broken up by Turkish police, who used tear gas and water cannons.

The Interior Ministry said the blast appeared to target members of a pro-Kurdish group, the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations, who had gathered at the yard of the Amara Cultural Center run by the local municipality.

Most of the victims in the explosion were students and members of the group who came to Suruc from Istanbul and other Turkish cities. They were on a volunteer expedition to Kobani, where they had planned to help with cleanup and reconstruction of the city. According to the federation, the volunteers were planning to plant a forest, build a library and a children's park, among other activities.

"Turkey condemns the perpetrators of this heinous attack that targeted the peace environment, and offers condolences to the deceased and wishes a speedy recovery to the wounded," it said, asking for calm.

Authorities said the explosion occurred during a ceremony to open the cultural center.

A Kurdish party official told Al Jazeera that the body of a suicide bomber was found among the dead.

Bacon reported from McLean, Va.