Twenty-two people were killed and 94 wounded when a suspected suicide bomber targeted a wedding celebration in the Turkish city of Gaziantep on Saturday (August 20), adding to a surge in violence this week in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
Ambulances raced to the scene and video footage from broadcaster CNN Turk showed police and emergency services workers rushing through packed streets in the city.
The attack appeared to have hit when a large group of people from a wedding party took to the streets in celebration, security sources said.
Islamic State militants were believed to be behind the attack, Samil Tayyar, a member of parliament from ruling AK Party said on Twitter, while Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek told broadcaster NTV the blast appeared to be the work of a suicide bomber.
Mahmut Togrul, a member of parliament for Gaziantep from Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, told Reuters it was a Kurdish wedding. Islamic State has been blamed for suicide bombings on Kurdish gatherings in the past.
Turkey faces multiple security threats from Islamic State militants at home and across the border with neighbouring Syria as well as from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Three suspected Islamic State suicide bombers killed 44 people at Istanbul's main airport in June, the deadliest in a string of attacks in Turkey this year.
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