IS bombings of restaurants in Syria kill 16 in northern city

The Islamic State group claims 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 more than 30.

Syria’s state news agency SANA says the “terrorist explosions” hit a Christian neighborhood in the city of Qamishli. A poster hung up at a local church says 13 of the victims were Christians, and that their funerals would take place later Thursday.

The bombs went off in the city center, near a security point run by government troops, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists and other sources inside Syria.

The extremists have suffered some of their worst setbacks in battles with Kurdish fighters in Syria, and have carried out dozens of suicide attacks against the Kurds, including several in Qamishli.

— AP