At least 28 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at a cultural centre in the Turkish town of Suruc, close to the border with Syria.
Turkeys interior minister said, the death toll is feared to rise, adding that nearly 100 people were under treatment at Suruc and Sanliurfa state hospitals.
A team of experts has been sent to Suruc, neighboring the Syrian town of Kobani, and security forces have taken measures around the area, the ministry said.
The blast in the town – which lies opposite the Syrian flashpoint of Kobane – was described as a ‘terrorist attack’ by the interior ministry, who stopped short of declaring it the work of ISIS militants.
But Turkish officials speaking anonymously said an initial investigation suggests the terror group are behind the atrocity, which comes just days after Turkey made its first serious efforts to combat ISIS with a round of arrests of militants and their supporters in the country.
Several Turkish media reported fatalities and private television station NTV said scores had been killed and about 100 wounded.
Witnesses said fire broke out after the strong explosion which smashed the windows of the building.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan phoned Sanliurfa Governor Izzettin Kucuk and other authorities to get information about the attack, presidential sources said, adding that Erdogan made the call upon landing in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to attend the 41st anniversary of Peace and Freedom Day which marks Turkey’s 1974 operation after a Greek coup.
Deputy PM Yalcin Akdogan condemned the “despicable” incident on Twitter, saying such terrorist attacks on Turkey’s integrity and peace would never reach their goal.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of Republican People’s Party, or CHP, also condemned the “insidious” attack, saying the party sent an investigation team to the area. The CHP also called on its local members to donate blood to the people wounded in the blast.
Meanwhile, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has announced that they will hold an extraordinary board meeting Tuesday morning at the party’s headquarters in capital Ankara.
