At least 50 killed including women and children as ‘ISIS suicide bomb’ blast hits guests dancing at wedding in Turkey
The terror attack happened in the city of Gaziantep which is located 40 miles from the Syrian border
AT LEAST 50 people have been killed and dozens injured after a suspected suicide bomber targeted wedding celebrations in Turkey.
The wedding party had been dancing in the street in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, about 40 miles from the Syrian border, when the bomb exploded in one of the deadliest attacks this year.
Turkey's president Tayyip Erdogan has now said it was likely that Islamic State militants carried out the late-night attack.
An official from the ruling AK Party also reportedly confirmed that terror group ISIS is responsible for the assault which Gaziantep governor Ali Yerlikaya earlier called a "terrorist attack".
Turkey's Anadolu news agency confirmed the blast took place in Akdere, in the city's Sahinbey district.
The devastation of the bomb was laid bare on Sunday morning with smashed garage doors and windows seen at the site.
Witness 25-year-old Veli Can said: "The celebrations were coming to an end and there was a big explosion among people dancing.
"There was blood and body parts everywhere."
The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, said in a statement that the wedding was for one of its members, and women and children had been among those killed.
It is understood the wedding had a strong Kurdish presence.
Video of the aftermath of the attack has since emerged with young children being rushed from the scene.
People covered in blood and screams can be heard in the video.
NATO member Turkey has suffered a string of attacks this year by Islamic State fighters, who pass relatively easily across the border from neighbouring Syria, and by Kurdish militants seeking autonomy or independence.
Erdogan said in a statement that there was "no difference" between the group of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen who he blames for the failed coup bid, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) "and Daesh (IS), the likely perpetrator of the attack in Gaziantep".
"Our country and our nation have again only one message to those who attack us -- you will not succeed!" he said.
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Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said the attack was probably carried out by a suicide bomber.
Last month, the country was shaken by an attempted coup by rogue elements of the military.
Thousands have since been arrested or sacked in the military, police, civil service, judiciary and academia in a crackdown on what President Tayyip Erdogan calls a vast terrorist conspiracy.
Over 200 people were killed and the failed putsch that Erdogan says was engineered by a former ally, exiled Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Bombings have torn at the fabric of Turkey which is seen by Western nations as an important ally and buffer against instability in Syria and Iraq.
Three suspected ISIS suicide bombers killed 44 people at Istanbul's main airport in July, the deadliest in a string of attacks in Turkey this year.
Almost 40 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Ankara in March that was claimed by a Kurdish group.
Meanwhile the country is still reeling from a failed coup blamed on Gulen that has been followed by a relentless purge of his supporters from all state institutions.
Twelve people were killed on Thursday in a spate of bombings blamed on the PKK, who Erdogan said had killed 70 members of the security forces in the last month alone.
As has been the case in previous attacks, Turkey's broadcasting regulator RTUK banned broadcast of footage from the scene of the attack in Gaziantep.
The blast in Gaziantep came on the day Yildirim vowed Ankara would play a "more active" role in the next six months in efforts to solve the over five-year Syrian civil war.
In a sign that Turkey's position was becoming gradually more aligned with Russia and Iran, he added that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could remain temporarily during a transition period.
Iran and Russia are the main allies of Assad whereas Turkey has always insisted his exit was a precondition for the end of the conflict.
Turkey was long accused of turning a blind eye to or even abetting the rise of IS in Syria, claims it vehemently denies, but has taken a tougher line after the jihadist attacks on its soil.
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