Death toll of Gaziantep wedding attack rises to 57

By Mehmet Akif Parlak, Yeter Erdine, and Zekeriya Günes

ANKARA

With the death of a 13-year-old boy in hospital, the death toll from a terrorist attack last month on an outdoor wedding in southeastern Turkey has risen to 57.

In a statement Sunday, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in the southeastern city of Gaziantep said that Mahsun Nas succumbed to his wounds and was buried following mid-afternoon prayers.

On Aug. 10 the terrorist organization Daesh targeted a wedding ceremony in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, killing 57 people, most of them children.

Separately, a 10-year-old boy has also succumbed to his wounds at a hospital in the southeastern Siirt province.

Health officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said that Yusuf Erzen was buried following mid-afternoon prayers.

Yusuf and his mother Besna Erzan were wounded in a Jun. 20 attack by PKK terrorists while sleeping on the roof of their house.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU, and resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, PKK terrorist attacks have martyred more than 600 security personnel and also claimed the lives of many civilians, including women and children, while more than 7,000 PKK terrorists were killed in army operations.