Suicide Bombing Kills at Least 31 in Southern Turkey

Attack Targeted Group Calling to Rebuild Kobani

A suicide bombing tore through the Amara Cultural Park in the southern Turkish border town of Surac today, killing at least 31 people and wounded over 100 others. ISIS is believed to have likely launched the strike.

The bomb targeted a group that was organizing an effort to rebuild the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani, which has been repeatedly targeted by ISIS. Suruc is just six miles from Kobani across the border, and has had to absorb refugees from the city several times.

The district governor says they are operating under the assumption of an ISIS attack because it was a suicide bomb, and that they believe the attacker was a woman loaded down with explosives who infiltrated the site.

Media reports are that there is panic in Surac since the blast, and many shops have closed for fear of there being a second bombing at some point. Many had feared they would be a target for an ISIS attack because of the large number of refugees there.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.