Ankara: A suicide attack in the Turkish town of Suruc near the border with Syria on Monday was likely to be the work of Islamic State militants, a Turkish government official said.
"The Turkish authorities have strong reason to believe that the terrorist attack was perpetrated by ISIS," the official told AFP, using another name for IS.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a near simultaneous attack near the Syrian town of Kobane across the border from Suruc, "strengthens our suspicions".
Television footage showed bodies lying beneath trees outside the building in the mostly Kurdish town in southeastern Turkey, which lies some 10 km (6.2 miles) from the Syrian border.
"I saw more than 20 bodies. I think the number of wounded is more than 50. They are still being put into ambulances," one witness told Reuters by telephone, giving his name as Mehmet. "It was a huge explosion, we all shook."
Pervin Buldan, a senior lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish HDP opposition party, said local officials were investigating the possibility that it was a suicide bombing.
She said the blast happened as Turkish and Kurdish youths gathered at the cultural centre ahead of a planned trip to the town of Kobani in Syria, which was secured by Syrian Kurdish fighters last month after an assault by Islamic State militants.
"Turkish and Kurdish youth had come to cross into Kobani, and there were three or four days of activities planned," she told Reuters, adding that HDP lawmakers were on their way to the scene.
A Turkish security official told Reuters 20-25 people had been wounded and confirmed that some had been killed, but could not immediately say how many.
A video posted on Facebook by one of the group of youth activists showed at least 20 people lying on the ground, some still alive. People milled about trying to comfort the wounded, as others cried out. Smoke and dust rose from the ground.
A hospital source said more than 20 people had been killed and made an urgent request for blood donations.
"Ambulances and private cars are picking up the wounded. Many were killed - 20 or 30. I am going to the hospital to help out," Adham Basho, a local politician, told Reuters by telephone as sirens wailed in the background.
