Turkey backtracked on Monday after suggesting a child between 12 and 14 years old carried out the suicide bombing that killed 54 people at a wedding on Saturday. “A clue has not yet been found concerning the perpetrator,” said Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, calling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s previous statement a “guess” based on witness accounts. Another 70 wedding guests were wounded, including the groom, after explosions rocked the wedding in the southeastern city of Gaziantep. Nearly half of the dead were under 14 years old.

In his remarks on Sunday, Erdogan said early signs point to the Islamic State, or ISIS, as responsible for the attack. ISIS has sent children to carry out its murderous missions in the past. But the prime minister on Monday clarified that the identity of the perpetrator is foggy, saying officials are unsure at this point if it was a “child or a grown-up” who carried out the attack.

The wedding was for a member of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP). Turkey’s Kurds–a stateless ethnic group with distinct populations in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey–act as a potent force in the fight against ISIS. Yet they are also adversaries of Erdogan’s government, which considers the PKK–the Kurdish governing body–a terrorist organization. Gaziantep is roughly 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) from the Syrian border, thought to be a convening site for ISIS fighters in Turkey. On Monday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu voiced his country’s need to rid itself of any ISIS influence.

Turkey is rocked by a string of attacks in the past year as turmoil deepens. Here is a helpful map. pic.twitter.com/jasXik0gju

— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) August 22, 2016

“Our border has to be completely cleansed of Daesh [the Arabic name for ISIS]. It’s natural for us to give whatever kind of support is necessary,” he said. Some experts see Saturday’s attack as having a duel-motivation: retaliation for recent battlefield successes by Syrian Kurds, and an attempt to fan the flames of ethnic tension already rife in a country still recovering from a failed coup attempt last month.

A statement from the White House National Security Council on Sunday said: “The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms yesterday’s terrorist attack.” It also said Vice President Joe Biden will be traveling to Ankara on Wednesday to discuss strategies regarding ISIS.

As funerals for those killed began on Sunday, so did reminders of how divided and tense Turkey is at the moment. At one funeral, mourners were mostly Kurdish. When Turkish officials came bearing Turkish flags, the Kurdish mourners grew angry and began hurling rocks at the officials.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Was Saturday’s Wedding Bombing in Turkey Carried Out by a Child? appeared first on Law Street.

Another deadly terror attack shook Turkey late Tuesday evening. Three suicide bombers opened fire before blowing themselves up inside Turkey’s Atatürk airport in Istanbul, killing at least 41 people and injuring 239, according to the latest information from BBC.

The attackers reportedly arrived in taxis and opened fire outside the main entrance, as well as in the departures hall. Police then responded to the shooting and the attackers detonated their bombs in three different spots around 10 pm local time.

#Istanbul #airport attack: 23 Turks, at least 10 foreign nationals killed, officials say, as death toll rises to 41 pic.twitter.com/ljSYvnjnSV

— Arab News (@Arab_News) June 29, 2016

I condemn terrorist attack at #Istanbul‘s intl airport. My condolences to the families & friends of the victims. pic.twitter.com/CPb5mjqNph

— Masood Khan (@smasood800) June 29, 2016

Atatürk airport is one of the most active airports in Europe with 61.3 billion passengers passing through in 2015. Among the killed who have been identified, 23 are Turks and 13 are from foreign countries.

An eyewitness who came out unharmed told Reuters how one of the men was walking around shooting randomly in the departures hall.

“He was wearing all black. His face was not masked … We ducked behind a counter but I stood up and watched him. Two explosions went off shortly after one another. By that time he had stopped shooting […] He turned around and started coming towards us. He was holding his gun inside his jacket. He looked around anxiously to see if anyone was going to stop him and then went down the escalator … We heard some more gunfire and then another explosion, and then it was over.”

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but officials believe the Islamic State is behind it. This attack has many similarities to the airport attacks in Brussels earlier this year. Turkey shares a border with Syria and has been experienced several bombings and terror attacks conducted by ISIS so far this year.

~ 40 people wounded in #Istanbul airport blast being transported to hospital: broadcaster Haberturk @ReutersWorld pic.twitter.com/FR6srbFTxU

— Christian Thiels (@ThielsChristian) June 28, 2016

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a united fight against terrorism. He said in a statement, “If states, as all humanity, fail to join forces and wage a joint fight against terrorist organizations, all the possibilities that we dread in our minds will come true one by one.” He also spoke with President Obama who said he strongly condemned the suicide attack in a phone call.

CCTV footage that has been circling on social media shows one of the bomb blasts:

CCTV footage appears to show moment bomb goes off at Istanbul airport https://t.co/PudONKvbHP pic.twitter.com/fGtdHD7E6x

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) June 28, 2016

The flags at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels were at half-mast on Wednesday.

#NATO flags at half-mast marking yesterday’s attacks at #Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. @TurkDelNATO pic.twitter.com/96LfpGEvaE

— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) June 29, 2016

Istanbul made an effort to not give in to terrorism. The airport is back up and running less than 24 hours after the bombing.

Incredibly #Istanbul airport is up and running less than twenty four hours after the attack pic.twitter.com/cHCDtt0C5W

— alex rossi (@alexrossiSKY) June 29, 2016

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Suicide Bombers Kill 41, Injure 240 in Istanbul Airport appeared first on Law Street.