Truck bomb kills 44 in Syrian city; IS claims attack

Qamishli, July 27 

A massive bomb blast claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 44 persons and wounded dozens today in the Kurdish-majority Syrian city of Qamishli.

It was the largest and deadliest attack to hit the city since the beginning of Syria's conflict in March 2011.

Syrian state media gave a toll of 44 dead and 140 injured in the bombing, which hit a western district of the city where several local Kurdish ministries are located.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor gave a toll of 48 dead, adding that children and women were among those killed. Kurdish officials said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden truck.

The blast was initially described as a double bombing, but local officials and the Observatory said the bomb had detonated a nearby fuel container, leading to reports of a second explosion.

An AFP journalist saw devastating scenes in the bomb's aftermath, with distraught civilians, some covered in blood, staggering through rubble past twisted metal and the burned-out remains of cars.

One man running along the streets was completely covered in blood, his shirt drenched red.

He was gripping the arm of a small boy whose face was grey and red with blood and dust. They ran past a hysterical woman who was crying and screaming, her clothes torn. 

Children could be heard screaming as smoke rose from small fires that continued to burn amongst the rubble. Civilians and local security forces with guns slung across their backs worked to carry the dead and wounded from the remains of damaged buildings.

The Islamic State group claimed the attack in a statement circulated on social media, calling it “a response to the crimes committed by the crusader coalition aircraft” in the town of Manbij, a 

bastion of the jihadist group in Syria's Aleppo province. — Reuters