Turkish PM blames bombing on Islamic State

 

The Islamic State group is the prime suspect in the Ankara bombings that killed nearly 100 on Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has said.

No group has said it carried out the attack, but the government

believes that two male suicide bombers caused the explosions.

The official death toll is 97, but one of the main groups at the march put the number of dead at 128, the BBC reports.

The funerals of more of the victims are taking place on Monday.

Saturday’s explosions ripped through a crowd of activists gathering outside the main railway station in the Turkish capital.

They were due to take part in a rally calling for an end to the violence between Turkish government forces and the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Speaking on Turkish television, Mr. Davutoglu said the bombings were an attempt to influence the forthcoming elections, due to take place on November 1 after a vote in June left no party able to form a government.

Many of the victims were activists of the pro-Kurdish HDP party, which says it is now considering cancelling all election rallies.

The HDP believes its delegation at the march was specifically targeted.

On Saturday the PKK unilaterally declared a ceasefire. However, this was rejected by the Turkish government, which carried out cross-border air strikes on PKK positions in southern Turkey and Iraq on Sunday.

Mr. Davutoglu said authorities were close to identifying one of the suicide bombers.

Some local media have implicated the brother of a man who carried out an IS bombing in the southern border town of Suruc in July, which killed more than 30 people.

The Nation