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28 dead in explosion on Turkey-Syria border

An explosion has killed at least 27 people in the town of Suruc in south-eastern Turkey, near the border with Syria.

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A Turkish security official had earlier told Reuters 20-25 people had been wounded and confirmed that some people had been killed, but could not immediately say how many.

DHA says the blast occurred at a cultural center while a political group was giving a statement to the press on Kobani’s reconstruction.

A Turkish official, however, said authorities have evidence that the attack was a suicide bombing and suspect the Islamic State group was behind it. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

Islamic State militants last month renewed attacks on Kobani to halt the Kurds’ military advance in Syria’s north. Kurdish politicians in Turkey have frequently criticized the government for turning a blind eye to activities of Islamist militants near the border. In January, a female suicide bomber injured two police officers, one who later died due to injuries, in an attack on a police station in Istanbul.

On June 12, Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman also revealed that Ankara allows ISIL terrorists to freely walk in the streets of the Akcakale border district in Sanliurfa.

The group was staying at the cultural centre. More than 20,000 Syrian refugees are housed in camps around Suruc.

The Islamists make a surprise raid on the town in June but the fighters were driven back by Kurdish forces who took full control of the town.

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In January, Kurdish forces backed by rebel groups and U.S.-led air strikes had pushed ISIS out of Kobane after four months of fierce fighting in a hugely symbolic defeat for the jihadists.

A wounded man pauses following an explosion in Suruc in southeastern Sanliurfa province Turkey