Turkish police seek female ISIL suspect over Suruç attack

ISTANBUL

A female suicide bomber who crossed into Turkey last month allegedly conducted the deadly Suruç attack in southeastern Turkey on July 20, daily Habertürk has reported.

The report suggested that one of three women members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) who crossed into Turkey to conduct suicide attacks could be one of the perpetrators of the attack, which left at least 32 dead and hundreds injured.

The General Directorate of Security had warned in June that three ISIL militants, Fadime Kurt, Özlem Yılmaz and Nuray Demirel, could carry out a suicide bombing in Turkey. Yılmaz’s photo had also been handed out to provincial authorities along with a confidential “possible attack” briefing.

The June 20 suicide attack targeted a municipal culture center in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa’s Suruç district, where members of the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF) were staying as part of a summer expedition to help rebuild Kobane, which lies directly across the border. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu confirmed that ISIL was the prime suspect after the attack.