The Islamic State (IS)
group on Thursday claimed responsibility for the bombing of two restaurants in
a predominantly Kurdish city in northeastern Syria the previous night, an
attack that killed at least 16 people and wounded 35.
Syria’s state news
agency SANA said the “terrorist explosions” hit the Shiyahi area, a Christian
neighborhood, late Wednesday in the city of Qamishli. A poster hung up at a
local church said 13 of the victims were Christians, and that their funerals
would take place later on Thursday.
The Britain-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bombs went off in the city centre,
near a security point run by government troops.
Target: Kurdish
fighters?
A claim of
responsibility by the IS circulated on social media. The group has been
fighting Kurdish fighters in Syria since last year and the extremists have
carried out dozens of suicide attacks against the Kurds, including several in
Qamishli.
The Kurdish fighters,
aided by U.S.-led airstrikes, have also captured significant territory from the
IS in northern Syria.
Syrian Prime Minister
Wael al-Halqi strongly condemned the explosions, which targeted the Miami and
Gabriel restaurants in Qamishli, saying that they reveal the "brutality of
criminal gangs."
Attacks wont deter us:
Prime Minister
“These terrorist
explosions will make us more determined and firm for confrontation to liberate
every part of Syrian land,” he said in remarks carried by SANA.
The news agency said
the blasts also severely damaged the restaurants’ buildings. Syrian President
Bashar Assad’s government uses the term “terrorist” to refer to any armed group
or organization fighting against his rule, whether it’s a militant or a rebel
group.
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