DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Late night explosions at two restaurants in a predominantly Kurdish city in northeastern Syria killed 16 people and wounded 35, Syria’s state news agency reported Thursday.
The SANA news agency said the “terrorist explosions” happened late on Wednesday in the city of Qamishli, hitting the Shiyahi area, a Christian neighborhood.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bombs went off in the city center, near a security point run by government troops.
The Islamic State 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 IS in northern Syria.
Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi strongly condemned the explosions, which targeted the Miami and Gabriel restaurants, saying that they reveal the “brutality of criminal gangs.”
“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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