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Blast Near Turkey's Border With Syria Kills 28


People help the wounded after an explosion in the southeastern Turkish city of Suruc near the Syrian border, Turkey, July 20, 2015.
People help the wounded after an explosion in the southeastern Turkish city of Suruc near the Syrian border, Turkey, July 20, 2015.

A suicide bombing in Turkey's southeastern city of Suruc has killed at least 28 people and left nearly 100 others injured.

No one has claimed responsibility for Monday's attack, although officials in Turkey’s Interior Ministry say they have strong reasons to believe it was perpetrated by Islamic State militants.

Suruc, Turkey
Suruc, Turkey

The ministry called for people to remain calm in the face of the attack that it said targeted the country's unity.

The blast struck a cultural center while a political group was holding a news conference on reconstruction efforts in the Syrian city of Kobani, which lies just across the border from Suruc.

Kobani has been the sight of intense battles between Kurdish forces and Islamic State militants. Surac is home to a huge camp for Syrian refugees fleeing violence in their country.

Meanwhile in Kobani, a bomb exploded near a Kurdish militia checkpoint in the city. It is unclear whether there were any casualties.

Earlier this month, activists said Kurdish fighters had driven out Islamic State fighters from Kobani after the jihadists took over several of the town's neighborhoods. Dozens of civilians were killed when IS militants launched that counter attack on Kobani.

Kurdish fighters, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, recaptured the contested town near the Turkish border early this year and have since been chipping away at IS control in other border areas.

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