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Turkey: Evidence suggests ISIS carried out bombing
02:37 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

A Turkish official says the 20-year-old was from the town of Adiyaman in southern Turkey

Turkey's semiofficial Anadolu news agency says the his name was Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz

A Kurdish group claims responsibility for the killings of two Turkish police officers, accusing them of ISIS ties

CNN  — 

The suicide bomber who killed more than 30 people in the Turkish border town of Suruc is thought to have been a 20-year-old Turkish national, an official in that country told CNN on condition of anonymity Wednesday.

Separately, Turkey’s semiofficial Anadolu news agency reported Wednesday that the suspect’s name was Seyh Abdurrahman Alagoz.

Turkish authorities have said they believe the terror group ISIS was involved in the explosion, which killed at least 32 people in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks to rock the country in years.

At least 100 others were wounded, provincial Gov. Izzettin Kucuk told Turkish media.

Suruc lies about 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) from the Syrian border opposite Kobani, the Syrian city that was the scene of intense fighting last fall between ISIS and predominantly Kurdish forces, backed by coalition airstrikes.

The suspect was from the southern Turkish town of Adiyaman, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of Suruc, the anonymous Turkish official told CNN.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference Tuesday that “one suspect has been identified” and that all that person’s “links domestically and internationally are being investigated.”

“Right now, links to ISIS and it being a suicide bomber have gained probability,” he said. “We expect the investigation to be completed as soon as possible.”

Davutoglu on Monday described ISIS as “not just a threat to Syria but to Turkey as well.”

Kurdish group says it killed Turkish police officers

Also Wednesday, an armed Kurdish group claimed responsibility for the killings of two Turkish police officers in a town near the Syrian border, saying in a statement posted online that the attack was retaliation for the Suruc bombing.

The group, the HPG, which is affiliated with the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), accused the two police officers of “cooperating with ISIS gangs” in the town of Ceylanpinar, which is roughly 150 kilometers (95 miles) east of Suruc and in the same province.

The two officers were found shot to death in a house they shared after they did not show up for work Wednesday.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc described the killings as “an act of terror.”

“Whether or not this group is really related to the PKK, or if this was done on an individual level, or if the claim statement was a propaganda attempt is being investigated by our intelligence and our security forces,” he said at a news conference.

The PKK, which has been involved in a decades long conflict with the Turkish state, has accused the Turkish government of supporting ISIS, an allegation the government denies.

Turkey officially classifies the PKK and ISIS as a terrorist organizations.

CNN’s Laura Smith-Spark and Jethro Mullen contributed to this report.