20 killed in car bomb explosion in northeast Syria
Blast at HQ of a pro-regime militia in Kurdish city follows car bomb hours earlier at a Kurdish security checkpoint
DAMASCUS — Syria’s state media are reporting that a car bomb explosion killed at least 20 people, including a woman and her two children, in the predominantly Kurdish northeastern city of Hassakeh.
The official SANA news agency says Monday’s attack took place in the city’s al-Mahatta neighborhood. Along with the 20 killed, at least 40 people were reported wounded.
In another part of the city, another car bomb blew up an hour earlier, but there was no word on casualties.
Syrian state TV showed footage of a two-story building that collapsed from the al-Mahatta explosion, which also left a large crater in the street. A man is seen holding a victim and weeping.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said the two explosions were suicide car bombs, although it could not immediately confirm a toll.
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said the first blast hit a checkpoint belonging to the Kurdish security forces in Khashman, while the second struck the headquarters of a pro-regime militia in Mahatta.
Control of Hasakeh city — and other parts of the province by the same name — is divided between Kurdish militia and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Most of the city is controlled by Syrian Kurds.
The city has regularly been targeted by the Islamic State group, which controls some territory in Hasakeh province.
The group entered the city and seized several neighborhoods in June, but was expelled a month later after battles involving both regime troops and Kurdish fighters.