The aftermath of the bombing in Gaziantep. DHA/AP
An ISIS suicide bombing in Turkey killed at least 50 people, including the child they used as the bomber. USA Today. In addition to the 51 people that died in Turkey's worst terror attack this year, 69 more were wounded, 17 of which were wounded critically. The bomber was believed to be a child between the ages of 12 and 14. The city that the bombing occurred in, Gaziantep, is near the border with Syria and is populated by Kurds. The attack risks further destabilizing Turkey, which just repelled a coup last month. It occurred during a wedding celebration.
My Comment:
Another disgusting attack by ISIS. And a fairly effective one as well. This attack will have a major impact on Turkey and it seems as though ISIS had a good plan here. Not only did they target a wedding, which wouldn't have much security, they also used a child to pull off the attack. Children are perfect suicide bombers, if you can get over the pure evil that is using them for that purpose. They don't draw as much scrutiny and nobody expects them to be carrying a bomb. The wedding was also a good target because it had a lot of people packed in close together. They pulled off a very brutal, but very smart attack.
Of course it is horrifying and disgusting that ISIS used a child or teenager of this attack. It takes a special kind of evil to brainwash a kid into carrying a bomb for you. It's even worse when you know that the child will not survive. That's about as evil as you can get.
Until now I haven't heard many reports of core ISIS doing attacks with children. Their Nigerian affiliate, Boko Haram, has done this sort of thing many times in the past. Still, I thought that ISIS still had some standards but honestly, why should anyone be shocked with what they do at this point? After all, ISIS has used children as executioners before, why wouldn't they use them as suicide bombers? (as an aside, the video of those executions in Palmyra remain the most disgusting thing I have ever seen on the internet).
One wonders what the long term psychological effects this will have on the children controlled by ISIS. They call them their cubs and pearls, but they treat them in ways no one should ever treat children. I can't imagine how damaging it is to a child to be forced to murder someone. And I doubt that Syria or Iraq will be functional enough to deprogram these children if and when ISIS is defeated. There will be an entire generation of kids that have been raised on murder. The threat they pose as suicide bombers is sadly not the worst thing about the children of ISIS.
As for Turkey, this is the last thing they need right now. The country is still very unstable after the failed coup plot last month. Their military and government are in disarray and people are angry. Though the people mostly backed President Erdogan, one wonders how they will react to more attacks like this. It's never good for the stability of a country if the government can't protect their people. In an already fragile country like Turkey, this could push them over the edge.
It also seems that the gloves are off for Turkey. There was a time when Turkey was spared ISIS attacks, in exchange for trade in oil, weapons and passage for fighters. This was a win win for both parties because ISIS got money, weapons and a pipeline for fighters to join them. Turkey got cheap oil and destabilized their enemies in Syria, including the Kurds and the regime.
Those days are long gone. ISIS has been stepping up the attacks in Turkey and most of them have been rather impressive. The attack on the airport in Istanbul was especially deadly and this newest one is even worse. Indeed, it seems that Turkey is one of the more dangerous places for terrorist attacks in the world right now, just below active war zones like Syria and Iraq.
As ISIS loses territory in Syria, Iraq and Libya, they have stepped up terror attacks globally. Pundits and the US government tries to paint this as a sign of ISIS's weakness, but I am not sure I agree. Though it is true that they have been pushed back in almost every country that they are extremely active in, I think that ISIS would be stepping up attacks regardless.
Remember, there is a prophetic strain to ISIS thought. They think they are in the end days and they have very specific beliefs about what they need to do in order to bring about the end of the world. One of those beliefs is that they need to have 80 countries (or banners) fight them in Dabiq, Syria, so bringing as many people into the war as they can is a major goal.
As you can see from the above propaganda video, ISIS has religious beliefs about how they have to wage war. They have a deep spiritual need to bring in as many countries into the war as possible so they can have their final battle at Dabiq. Sending terrorists as young as 12 will increase the outrage and may even encourage more people to fight ISIS. And ISIS doesn't care if they win or lose. Indeed, their prophecy says they lose and retreat to Israel and then Jesus will come to destroy the forces of "Rome". It's because of those religious beliefs that I don't think ISIS is going anywhere soon.
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