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| Turkey vows to cleanse border region of Isis militants | Turkey vows to cleanse border region of Isis militants |
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| Turkey has vowed to “completely cleanse” its border region of Islamic State militants after a suspected suicide bomber with links to the group killed 54 people, including 22 children, at a Kurdish wedding. | Turkey has vowed to “completely cleanse” its border region of Islamic State militants after a suspected suicide bomber with links to the group killed 54 people, including 22 children, at a Kurdish wedding. |
| Saturday’s attack in the south-eastern city of Gaziantep was the deadliest in Turkey this year. On Sunday the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said the attack had been carried out by a suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14 and initial evidence pointed to Islamic State. | Saturday’s attack in the south-eastern city of Gaziantep was the deadliest in Turkey this year. On Sunday the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said the attack had been carried out by a suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14 and initial evidence pointed to Islamic State. |
| But on Monday the prime minister, Binali Yildirim said authorities were still trying to identify the bomber and did not know whether he had been “a child or a grown-up.” | |
| A senior security official said the device used was the same type as those employed in a suicide attack in the border town of Suruç in July last year and a bombing at a rally of pro-Kurdish activists in Ankara in October. Both of those attacks were blamed on Isis. | A senior security official said the device used was the same type as those employed in a suicide attack in the border town of Suruç in July last year and a bombing at a rally of pro-Kurdish activists in Ankara in October. Both of those attacks were blamed on Isis. |
| The group has targeted Kurdish gatherings in an apparent effort to further inflame ethnic tensions strained by a long Kurdish insurgency. The Ankara bombing last year was the deadliest of its kind in Turkey, killing more than 100 people. | The group has targeted Kurdish gatherings in an apparent effort to further inflame ethnic tensions strained by a long Kurdish insurgency. The Ankara bombing last year was the deadliest of its kind in Turkey, killing more than 100 people. |
| Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said: “Daesh should be completely cleansed from our borders and we are ready to do what it takes for that.” | Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said: “Daesh should be completely cleansed from our borders and we are ready to do what it takes for that.” |
| The Dogan news agency said the death toll in the Gaziantep bombing had risen to 54 on Monday, and 66 people were being treated in hospital, 14 of whom were in serious condition. | The Dogan news agency said the death toll in the Gaziantep bombing had risen to 54 on Monday, and 66 people were being treated in hospital, 14 of whom were in serious condition. |
| A second security official said they were investigating the possibility that militants could have placed the explosives on the attacker without his or her knowledge and detonated them remotely, or that a child with learning difficulties had been duped into carrying the device, a tactic seen elsewhere in the region. | |
| In Syria, Turkish-backed rebels are preparing an attempt to seize the border town of Jarablus from Islamic State, a senior rebel official said, a move that would deny advancing Syrian Kurdish fighters control of the town. | In Syria, Turkish-backed rebels are preparing an attempt to seize the border town of Jarablus from Islamic State, a senior rebel official said, a move that would deny advancing Syrian Kurdish fighters control of the town. |
| The rebels – groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army – are expected to launch the attack from inside Turkey in the next few days. Around 10 Turkish tanks were seen in a village 2.5 miles (4km) from the border gate immediately across from Jarablus. It was not clear how long the tanks had been there. | The rebels – groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army – are expected to launch the attack from inside Turkey in the next few days. Around 10 Turkish tanks were seen in a village 2.5 miles (4km) from the border gate immediately across from Jarablus. It was not clear how long the tanks had been there. |
| Turkey’s prime minister, Binali Yıldırım, has said Ankara will take a more active role in Syria in the next six months to prevent the country from being divided along ethnic lines. | Turkey’s prime minister, Binali Yıldırım, has said Ankara will take a more active role in Syria in the next six months to prevent the country from being divided along ethnic lines. |
| Çavuşoğlu said Turkey, a member of Nato and the US-led coalition against Islamic State, had become the “No 1 target” for the militants because of its work to prevent recruits from travelling through its territory and across the border into Syria. | Çavuşoğlu said Turkey, a member of Nato and the US-led coalition against Islamic State, had become the “No 1 target” for the militants because of its work to prevent recruits from travelling through its territory and across the border into Syria. |
| For Ankara, Isis is not the only threat lurking on its frontier. Turkey is also concerned that attempts by Syrian Kurds to extend their control along the common border could add momentum to an insurgency by Kurds on its own territory. In the latest violence in Turkey’s south-east, two members of the Turkish security forces and five PKK militants were killed in clashes and attacks in the last 24 hours. | |
| Some in Turkey, particularly in the Kurdish south-east, feel the government has not done enough to protect its citizens from Islamic State. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic party (HDP) said the wedding party in Gaziantep was for one of its members. The groom was among those injured, but the bride was not hurt. | Some in Turkey, particularly in the Kurdish south-east, feel the government has not done enough to protect its citizens from Islamic State. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic party (HDP) said the wedding party in Gaziantep was for one of its members. The groom was among those injured, but the bride was not hurt. |