ISTANBUL (Reuters) – At least 41 people were killed when unidentified gunmen with automatic rifles attacked a wedding party in southeastern Turkey yesterday, the acting governor of Mardin province said.
Ahmet Ferhat Ozen told Reuters by telephone the assailants, wearing masks, stormed into a hall where wedding guests were assembled and opened fire with automatic rifles and hand grenades. The local paramilitary police were dispatched to the village, Sultankoy, to pursue the attackers.
Ozen said many more were wounded and the number of dead could rise.
Local media said the families of both the bride and the groom included members of the state-sponsored militia, the Village Guard, set up to combat Kurdish separatist guerrillas in the area.
