SCORES KILLED
Residents gather Wednesday in Syria’s northeastern city of Qamishli, where a massive bomb attack claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 67 people and hurt 185 in the Kurdish-majority city.
DAMASCUS, Syria — At least 67 people were killed and 185 wounded Wednesday in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group in the northeastern Syrian town of Qamishli, medical sources in the Kurdish-controlled town said.
Rescue teams are still searching for victims under the rubble of the buildings hit by the attack, the sources added.
Earlier reports said that 55 people were killed and more than 160 wounded in what activists said was a powerful blast that rocked Qamishli, which is near the Turkish border. There were reports of a second blast a short while later, though the cause was not clear.
Kurdish news agency Rudaw said the explosion was the result of a double attack. The first was caused by a truck loaded with explosives that targeted a center run by the Kurdish police force.
A second blast hit a street in the east of the town that is home to the local defense administration, Rudaw said.
An al-Qaida splinter group also said it was behind Wednesday’s attack but made reference to only one explosion.
It added that the attack was to avenge the killing of men, women and children in IS-controlled Manbij city in northern Syria. Human rights monitors and activists July 19 said airstrikes against IS-controlled villages near Manbij killed between 56 and 160 civilians.
Meanwhile, a humanitarian crisis in the rebel-held sections of Aleppo, a city in the country’s northwest, intensified.
A 2-day-old baby died in an incubator from disruptions to his oxygen supply as a result of airstrikes over the weekend that damaged a UNICEF-supported hospital, which was reportedly struck twice in less than 12 hours.
In the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo, at least six more people died in airstrikes Wednesday, according to a medical group operating in the area.
More than 50 civilians were killed Monday, according to the White Helmets, a rescue group operating in rebel areas. Forces loyal to Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, control most of the western part of the city.