A young girl in southern Lebanon joined hundreds mourning her father, one of three paramedics killed in an Israeli “double-tap” strike during the US-brokered ceasefire. At least 95 emergency responders have been killed in Lebanon, a pattern the UN says may amount to a war crime.
Death toll rises to 10 after shooting by 14-year-old student at the Ayser Calik School in Kahramanmaras.
Published On 16 Apr 202616 Apr 2026
Mourners have gathered in Turkiye’s southern province of Kahramanmaras for the funerals of victims killed in the second of two school shootings that rocked the nation this week.
Funerals were held on Thursday for eight students and maths teacher Ayla Kara, 55, who were killed in Wednesday’s shooting, The Associated Press news agency reported.
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A 10th victim died while being treated in hospital on Thursday, authorities said. Six of those wounded in the attack were in critical condition, officials said.
Isa Aras Mersinli, 14, opened fire on two classrooms in the Ayser Calik School in Kahramanmaras city on Wednesday. The attacker was later found dead.
Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said the attacker is believed to have used guns that belonged to his father, a former police officer.
People carry the coffin of a victim of a school shooting during the funeral prayers at a mosque in Kahramanmaras, Turkiye, on April 16, 2026 [Ensar Ozdemir/Reuters]
At a funeral for four of the victims held near Kahramanmaras city’s main mosque on Thursday, one father sat motionless beside the coffin of his daughter, 10‑year‑old Zeynep, the AFP news agency reported.
“Our grief is endless. These children were like our own. They were all innocent,” said Vezir Yucel, father of a student named Yusuf, who lost his close friend, 10-year-old Bayram, in the shooting.
Nilgun Ruci, a 55‑year‑old homemaker, told AFP that she rushed to Ayser Calik School after hearing gunshots. When she arrived, she saw the daughter of a neighbour lying gravely wounded.
“She had been shot in the leg and the shoulder,” Ruci said. “At first, I thought she had fainted. Today I learned that she died.”
Second attack in two days
The attack was the country’s second school shooting in two days, coming after Tuesday’s attack at a high school in Sanliurfa province in the southeast, which was carried out by a former student who wounded 16 people.
As of Thursday, 20 people had been detained in connection with Tuesday’s shooting in Sanliurfa.
The interior and education ministries held a joint school security meeting in the capital, Ankara, on Thursday, which was attended by both ministers and all 81 of Turkiye’s provincial governors, as well as police chiefs and provincial education directors.
Until this week, school shootings were rare in Turkiye. But dozens of students were arrested Thursday over alleged social media posts implying they might stage similar attacks.
Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced that 67 social media users were detained over posts targeting 54 different schools.
FT. WORTH — In the city that Jim Wright represented for 34 years, the House Speaker’s resignation Wednesday prompted fear, sorrow and anger at Republicans.
“Anybody who knows anything of the American political process knows the loss of the speakership is a major loss for this area,” said Mayor Bob Bolen, whose city has long counted Wright as a major asset in attracting defense jobs.
Officials said it may be impossible to rebuild the political power or match the economic gain the region enjoyed from Wright’s 34-year tenure and his leadership in the Democratic Party.
“We just lost our right arm in Ft. Worth,” state Rep. Doyle Willis, who represents the city in the Texas House, said in Austin. “I think he got a dirty Republican deal. I think they were after him, and they finally got him.”
In Wright’s 12th Congressional District, people gathered around televisions in an electronics shop to watch his resignation speech.
“I think it’s horrible,” Lynn Bratcher said. “He’s the only one I could call on for help when I needed help. . . . He’s the only one that has ever really done anything for anyone for Texas.”