ISIS suicide bomber attacks youth trying to rebuild Kobani

An explosion rattled the border town of Suruc, Turkey, on Monday, killing about two dozen and wounding nearly 100 others.

About 200 young people were staying at the Amara Cultural Center to assist in rebuilding the nearby Syrian town of Kobani. They were part of a political group, the Federation of Socialist Youths, holding a news conference on Kobani’s reconstruction.

Turkish officials claim the attack on Monday was a suicide bombing and suspect the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) is responsible.

This is not the first time the region has been attacked. ISIS infiltrated Kobani last fall and millions of Syrians fled to Turkey for safety. From nearby Suruc, they watched their city get destroyed.

The news conference organized by youth in Suruc focused on the need to clean up Kobani. Fatma Edemen, 22, was a member of the young activists pressing to rebuild.

“We just heard from the cops that it was a suicide bomber,” she said as she headed to a hospital to get treatment for minor injuries to her legs. “One of my friends protected me. First I thought `I am dying’ but I was OK. I started to run after I saw the bodies.”

Speaking by phone, her voice shaking, Edemen said the group believed Kobani was relatively safe and ready to rebuild.

Between 70 and 80 percent of Kobani and its surrounding villages are still badly damaged from ISIS attacks in Syria. Two of Kobani’s four hospitals are completely ruined, while the remaining two need repairs. Most of the 19 schools in Kobani were damaged—four beyond repair. The city has no power, and not enough food or housing.

Just as groups are aiming to reconstruct, ISIS bombings have increased. Ramadi, still occupied by ISIS fighters, is just 10 hours south of Kobani, by car. ISIS has taken over large areas of Iraq in the past year and remains a lethal enemy. An attack in a crowded marketplace in Diyala province east of Baghdad on Friday night killed at least 115 people.

Though the attacks continue, U.S. Brig. Gen. Yahea Resool, a Defense Ministry spokesman, said the Iraqi military operation is gaining momentum against ISIS. Last Monday, Iraq’s government announced an offensive to take the city back. The country’s military has not yet begun an assault into the center of the city, instead surrounding it before closing in on the militants. Iraq’s forces have had initial successes in securing areas on Ramadi’s outskirts.

Although about 3,500 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, they are not participating in the fighting.

Mutlu Civiroglu, a Kurdish affairs analyst based in Washington, said the top priority is to stop ISIS which “is now trying to compensate for their loss in Kobani.”

A Turkish official said the government thinks the bomb in Suruc was in “retaliation to the Turkish government’s fight against terrorism.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.