SURUC: Turkey said on Tuesday it had identified a suspect over a devastating suicide bombing on the border with Syria blamed on militants of the self-styled Islamic State (IS), as the government rushed to bolster security on the porous frontier.

Thirty-two people were killed and more than 100 wounded on Monday when a bomb ripped through a crowd of young socialist activists in a mainly Kurdish region preparing to take aid over the border into Syria.

The attack in Suruc was one of the deadliest in Turkey in recent years and the first time the government has directly accused the IS group of carrying out an act of terror on Turkish soil.

In harrowing scenes on Tuesday, loved ones of the dead clutched the coffins of the victims in a farewell ceremony in the nearby city of Gaziantep ahead of their burial in towns across Turkey.

Know more: Bomb attack leaves 30 dead, 100 injured in Turkey

“One suspect has been identified. All the (suspect’s) links internationally and domestically are being investigated,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in the regional centre of Sanliurfa after visiting the wounded in hospital.

He added there was a “high probability” the attack was caused by a suicide bomber with connections to IS militants. “We expect this investigation to be concluded as soon as possible,” he said.

Mr Davutoglu said the death toll had risen to 32 and that 29 injured victims were still in hospital. “What is necessary will be done against whomever responsible for (the attack),” he said.

“This is an attack that targeted Turkey.”

The Hurriyet daily said Turkey’s intelligence agency had previously warned the government that seven IS members — three of them women — had crossed into the country in recent weeks with the aim of carrying out attacks.

Previous reports had suggested the bomber was a woman but the DIHA news agency said the person was a 20-year-old Turkish man who had become involved with IS two months ago.

Mr Davutoglu declined to give any further details on the bomber’s identity.

The IS group, which has claimed swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq right up to the Turkish border, has so far not claimed the Suruc bombing.

But Mr Davutoglu said Turkey was taking steps to improve border security, which has long been criticised by its Western partners. He said the cabinet would discuss on Wednesday an “action plan” on border security and the government would then take the “necessary measures”. “Conflicts abroad should not be allowed to spread to Turkey,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 22th, 2015

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