Turkey Backtracks On 'IS Child Bomber' Claims

ANKARA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -23rd Augst,2016) - Turkey on Monday went back on claims that a child bomber linked to Islamic State (IS) jihadists carried out a deadly suicide bombing close to Syria, saying it had no clue who was behind the attack. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Ankara could not confirm who was the perpetrator of the attack on a Kurdish wedding in the city of Gaziantep which left 54 dead, apparently contradicting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who had said it was a child bomber acting on IS orders. "We do not have a clue about who the perpetrators behind the attack were.

Early information on who did the attack, in what organisation's name, is unfortunately not right," Yildirim told reporters in Ankara. His comments were in stark contrast with those by Erdogan who said on Sunday that the bomber was a child aged between 12-14 acting on orders of IS jihadists. Yildirim described as "rumours" whether the attack was conducted by a child or an adult, while insisting security agencies would continue their work to find out who was responsible. "Those who were behind the attack will be revealed, there is no doubt about this." The Hurriyet daily said DNA tests were under way to ascertain the bomber's identity, nationality and gender.

- 'Strikes on IS, PYD' - ======================== Security forces believed jihadists had timed the attack as retaliation for offensives both by Kurdish militias and pro-Ankara Syrian opposition forces against IS in Syria, according to earlier Turkish press reports. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, hundreds of rebel fighters were preparing inside Turkish territory to launch an offensive on the IS-held Syrian town of Jarablus. Without explicitly confirming the rebel offensive, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey backed anyone fighting against IS and would itself fight the group "to the end". "Our border must be completely cleansed from Daesh," he said in televised remarks, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.

CNN-Turk and NTV channels later reported that Turkish armed forces launched artillery strikes on separate targets of IS jihadists and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Kurdish militia in northern Syria. Turkish army howitzers stationed inside Turkey fired on IS targets in the town of Jarablus and PYD targets around the area of Manbij, the reports said.