Mortars land in Gaziantep after deadly attack on Kurdish wedding

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – At least nine mortars landed in the outskirts of Gaziantep in the early hours of Sunday, the governor of the city in southeastern Turkey said, hours after a suicide bomber killed 51 people at a Kurdish wedding party.

 

Although there has been no claim of responsibility for either attack, governor Ali Yrlikaya joined other Turkish officials in blaming both on the Islamic State (ISIS) group.

 

“Two hours after the deadly attack in Gaziantep which killed 51 and wounded more than 100, ISIS launched mortar fires again on the city’s Karkamish town, causing no casualties,” the governor said. “All the mortars landed in an open terrain.”

 

Yrlikaya disclosed that, in response to the mortar attack, Turkish ground forces had immediately responded with 65 mortars of their own, targeting the place from where the missiles were fired, across the border in Syria’s Jarablous.

 

To prevent possible attacks against the Turkish cities on the Syrian border, the governor explained that the government has decided to impose military curfews for 15 days and “this decision will go into effect Sunday.”

 

A bombing at a wedding party in Gaziantep city, known in Kurdish as Dilok, on Saturday night left 51 people dead and more than 100 injured. Among the dead were the bride and groom.

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the suicide bombing was carried by an attacker who was between 12 and 14.

 

Rockets were repeatedly fired by ISIS from Syria, crashed into Turkey's southeastern border province of Kilis a few months ago, claiming the lives of tens of civilians, mostly Syrian refugees who were based in the city.