Casualty toll of Rojava's Hasaka explosion exceeds 50

HASAKA, Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdistan24) – On Thursday, the casualty toll of a deadly suicide attack that hit the Kurdish neighborhood of Syria’s northeastern city of Hasaka at the night of Eid has risen to 28 dead and 29 wounded.

On Tuesday night, which was the night before Eid, Kurdistan24 initially learned that a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up among a crowd of people gathered in front of a bakery in the Kurdish neighborhood of Al-Salihiya in Hasaka.

Kurdistan24 news team in Hasaka then rushed to the explosion site and reported that at least 16 civilians lost their lives and 25 were wounded, including women and children.  

The injured were transported to the public hospital of Hasaka, and some others were transported to hospitals in Qamishlo due to the lack of medical supplies in Hasaka.

Speaking to Kurdistan24 from the public hospital in Hasaka, Dr. Ahmad Nabeel Sadoun said on Thursday that more than ten wounded were in a critical condition and succumbed to their injuries.

“The latest casualty toll of the terror attack has risen to 28 dead and 29 wounded civilians,” he said.

Islamic State (IS) claimed the responsibility for the blast in a statement published on the group's social media channels few hours after the attack.

In response to the explosion, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq condemned the bombing and expressed KRG’s readiness to offer all kinds of support to the families of the injured.

In a statement published on the Kurdistan Region Presidency website on Wednesday, the President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Masoud Barzani expressed his sympathy to the families of the victim and wished the injured speedy recovery.

[The explosion site in front of a bakery in al-Salihiya neighborhood of the Syrian northeastern city of Hasaka, Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), Syria, July 5, 2016. (Photo: Qamishlo Now Agency/Social Media)]

Two days before the blast, heavy clashes erupted in Hasaka between the Kurdish security forces (Asayish) and pro-Assad militias and as a result, one Syrian regime security element was killed and about 13 people were wounded.

The city of Hasaka has already been targeted many times by terror attacks in the national or social occasions, such as Eid and Newroz (Kurdish New Year).

In March 2015, two bomb attacks during Newroz (Kurdish New Year) celebrations in the Syrian city of Hasaka left 35 dead and more than 150 wounded. In response, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) delivered an estimated three tons of medical supplies.

Hasaka city is the capital of the surrounding province of the same name in northeastern Syria, and locates within Syria’s northern Kurdish-held areas (known as Syrian Kurdistan or Rojava in Kurdish). The city is under the shared control of Syrian government forces and Kurdish forces (Asayish and YPG).

Some professional institutions in the city are still operating and are funded by the Syrian government. These include the Public Directorate of Education, the Justice Palace, Directorate of Migration and Passport Issuance, and many other public departments.

Editing by Ava Homa