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IS Prime Suspect in Turkey Bombing

IS Prime Suspect in Turkey Bombing
IS Prime Suspect in Turkey Bombing

Turkey’s government said on Monday Islamic State was the prime suspect in suicide bombings that killed at least 97 people in Ankara.

The father of three men wounded in the blasts said one of his sons had described seeing one of the bombers carrying a bag on his back and one in his hand, and called out “stop” before the bomb detonated, Reuters reported.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday’s attack, the worst of its kind on Turkish soil, was intended to influence the outcome of November polls Erdogan hopes will restore a majority the ruling AK party lost in June. Officials say there is no question of postponing the vote.

“If you consider the way the attack happened and the general trend of it, we have identified Islamic State as the primary focus,” Davutoglu told Turkey’s NTV television. “It was definitely a suicide bombing ... DNA tests are being conducted. It was determined how the suicide bombers got there. We’re close to a name, which points to one group.”

The Haberturk newspaper has cited police sources as saying the type of explosive and the choice of target pointed to a group within Islamic State known as the “Adiyaman ones”, a reference to Adiyaman Province in southeastern Turkey.

Turkey is vulnerable to infiltration by Islamic State, which holds swathes of Syrian land abutting Turkey where some two million refugees live. But there has been no word from the group–usually swift to publicly claim responsibility for any attack it conducts-over the Ankara bombing or two very similar incidents earlier this year.

 

Financialtribune.com