Child Used in Suicide Attack on Wedding that Kills at Least 51, Turkey's President Says

ISIS is "the most likely perpetrator," said the Turkish president.

ByABC News
August 21, 2016, 4:15 AM
Women mourn as they wait in front of a hospital morgue in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, after a suspected bomber targeted a wedding celebration in the city, Aug. 21, 2016.
Women mourn as they wait in front of a hospital morgue in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, after a suspected bomber targeted a wedding celebration in the city, Aug. 21, 2016.
Osman Orsal/Reuters

— -- A child was used in a suicide bombing attack that killed at least 51 people at an outdoor wedding party in Turkey, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Erdogan, who earlier on Sunday linked the attack to the terror group ISIS, said in an address live on national television in front of Istanbul's City Hall, that the attacker was between 12 and 14 years old. He said 69 people were wounded, 17 of them in critical condition.

PHOTO: Turkish police work near the explosion scene following a late night attack on a wedding party that left at least 30 dead in Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border, Aug. 21, 2016.
Turkish police work near the explosion scene following a late night attack on a wedding party that left at least 30 dead in Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border, Aug. 21, 2016.

The attack took place in Gaziantep, a city along that country's border with Syria.

"It was clear that Daesh had such an organization in Gaziantep or was attempting to make room for itself in recent times," Erdogan said, using an alternative name for ISIS. "Many intensive operations were conducted, are being conducted. Of course our security forces will be conducting these operations with even greater intensity."

PHOTO: A person shows pieces of projectile near the explosion scene following a late night attack on a wedding party that left at least 30 dead in Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border, Aug. 21, 2016.
A person shows pieces of projectile near the explosion scene following a late night attack on a wedding party that left at least 30 dead in Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border, Aug. 21, 2016.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim condemned the "devilish" bombing, which he said turned "a wedding party into a place of mourning."

In Gaziantep, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek and the country's health minister visited the wounded and the site of the attack.

"This is a massacre of unprecedented cruelty and barbarism," Simsek told reporters. "We are united against all terror organizations. They will not yield."

PHOTO: A picture taken in Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border, Aug. 21, 2016 shows debris in the explosion scene following a late night attack on a wedding party that left at least 30 dead.
A picture taken in Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border, Aug. 21, 2016 shows debris in the explosion scene following a late night attack on a wedding party that left at least 30 dead.

Hundreds of residents gathered near the site that police had sealed off chanting "Allah is great."

The attack comes as the country is still reeling from last month's failed coup attempt, which the government has blamed on U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen and his followers. Gulen denies any involvement.

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