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IS strikes in deadly Syrian bomb blast

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack through its propaganda agency Amaq, which said over 100 had been killed in a truck bombing attack on the headquarters of “Kurdish units”.

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IS has previously carried out bombings against Kurds in the area.

It is not the first time the militant group has targeted the area.

Syrian state media said 140 people were also wounded in the devastating blast.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army has announced that pro-government forces are interrupting supply into ISIS-controlled Aleppo by tightening their grip on the province.

The death toll of the powerful explosion that rocked Syria’s northeastern city of Qamishli on Wednesday (Jul 27) rose to 52, China’s Xinhua news agency reported citing a pro-government Syrian TV.

A truck bomb has exploded in the city of Al-Qamishli, Syria, killing almost 50 people.

The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who blew himself up inside a truck, Kurdish officials told AFP.

The Kurdish forces, backed by USA airstrikes, are now seeking to push the extremists out of a key town on Turkish border.

According to eye-witnesses, the explosion of the blast was so loud that it was heard miles away, and it even damaged some distant buildings, The Associated Press reports.

They have been backed in their battle for the town by air strikes launched by the US-led coalition fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

It was the largest attack on the city with the biggest loss of life since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in March 2011.

The death toll was likely to rise as the rescue teams were still removing bodies from under the rubble, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. In retaliation ISIS has bombed the area repeatedly, most recently in April, killing six members of the Kurdish internal security force; as well as in July, when a suicide bomb killed 16.

Wednesday’s explosion came as US -backed Kurdish forces pressed ahead with their offensive to take the IS-held town of Manbij, also in northern Syria but further to the east of Qamishli.

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Brett McGurk, the U.S. official leading the coalition fight against IS, condemned the attack and vowed to continue support to the Syrian Kurds.

At Least 25 Killed, Over 100 Injured in Terrorist Attack in Qamishli, Syria