APPARENT SUICIDE BLAST KILLS 30

Bomb blew near Syrian site of battles with Islamic State

At least 30 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded in an apparent terrorist attack by a suicide bomber Monday in the Turkish town of Suruc on the Syrian border, Turkey’s Interior Ministry said.

Suruc is across the border from the Syrian town of Kobani, the site of fierce battles between Kurdish militia and fighters for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. The Islamic State was driven out of Kobani with the help of a Syrian rebel group and blistering airstrikes by a U. S.- led coalition.

More than 20,000 Syrian refugees are housed in camps around Suruc, separated from Kobani by little more than a fence.

Suruc District Gov. Abdullah Çiftçi confirmed Monday’s death toll of 30, adding that at least 20 people were in critical condition. The governor of nearby Urfa Province, Izzettin Kucuk, said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.

No one had claimed responsibility for the blast, but “there is a very high likelihood that this is Islamic State,” said Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat now with an Istanbul- based thinktank. “The attack comes in the wake of increased police operations against Islamic State members in Turkey, after which ISIS issued messages threatening retaliation.”

In North Cyprus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the “brutality.”

“I personally and on behalf of my nation condemn and curse those who perpetrated this savagery,” Erdogan said at a news conference, according to the Associated Press.

The Interior Ministry said the blast appeared to target members of a pro- Kurdish group, the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations, who had gathered at the yard of the Amara Cultural Center. Most of the victims were students and members of the group who were on a volunteer expedition to Kobani, where they had planned to help with cleanup and reconstruction of the city.

“I personally and on behalf of my nation condemn and curse those who perpetrated this savagery.” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish president

DEPO PHOTOS VIA EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY Turkish police search the area after an apparent terrorist attack in Suruc, Sanliurfa province, Turkey, on Monday.