Syrian state TV reports that the blast was caused by a truck bomb which struck near a Kurdish security headquarters.
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In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrians inspect damages after deadly twin bombings struck the town of Qamishli, Syria, Wednesday, July 27, 2016.
The attack was initially reported as a double bombing, but it now appears that the first blast caused a gas tank to explode, according to AFP.
The death toll of the powerful explosion that rocked Syria’s northeastern city of Qamishli on Wednesday rose to 52, a pro-government Syrian TV said, Xinhua reported.
They are backed by air strikes launched by the US-led coalition fighting ISIL in Syria and Iraq. Many residential buildings were hit by the intense blast.
Hospitals across Qamishli have put out urgent calls for the donation of all blood types in the wake of the attack.
The dead include civilians and members of the security forces, it says.
Qamishli is under the shared control of the Syrian regime and Kurdish authorities and the bombing appeared to target Kurdish administration buildings including the defence ministry, in what had been considered a secure zone.
At least 48 people were killed in the blast early yesterday. The extremist group has carried out several bombings in Kurdish areas in Syria in the past.
The bomb hit near a Kurdish military headquarters, possibly targeted because the USA has backed Peshmerga fighters against ISIS in northern Syria.
Kurdish forces, known as YPG, control broad swaths of territory in northeastern Syria along the border with Turkey, as well as pockets in Aleppo city and further to the northwest in Afrin.
Brett McGurk, the U.S. official leading the coalition fight against IS, condemned the attack and vowed to continue support to the Syrian Kurds.
Speaking by phone from Baghdad, Colonel Christopher Garver told reporters at the Pentagon that it’s unclear how this trove of intelligence might affect the direction of the war, but he suggested it has been of considerable value.
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Speaking in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday, following a closed-door meeting with USA and Russian officials, Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy to Syria, said Washington and Moscow had been discussing ways to work towards the reintroduction of a ceasefire.
