Details continue to emerge regarding the Aug. 20 suicide blast carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, with the mechanism of the bomb used in the wedding attack that claimed at least 54 lives reportedly being the same type as ones used in previous attacks.
ISIL militants used iron marbles to strengthen the effect of the bomb and most of the deaths occurred because of the marbles hitting people, according to the preliminary autopsy report on the attack that killed a total of 29 children, daily Hürriyet reported on Aug. 22.
The mechanism of the bomb was the same as the ones used in the Oct. 10, 2015 suicide attack at the train station in central Ankara and the ISIL attack in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa. Both claimed a total of 142 lives and wounded scores of others.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Aug. 21 said the perpetrator was a child suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14.
In footage obtained from nearby surveillance cameras, two people can be seen fleeing the scene shortly after the attack. Investigators are exploring whether the duo dropped the suicide bomber to the area and watched the child’s actions, the report said.
Police are also investigating whether the order to stage the attack was given by Deniz Büyükçelebi, the ISIL militant “responsible” for the group’s actions on the Turkish Syrian border.