People and security officials walk past the site of Sunday
ishtartv.com - middleeasteye.net
Sunday
19 June 2016
Three
people were killed in northeast Syria on Sunday when a suicide bomber attacked
an event commemorating the massacre of Christians more than a century ago,
state media and a security source said.
The
attack in the city of Qamishli took place as locals gathered at a hall to
commemorate the deaths of tens of thousands of Christians by the Ottoman army
starting in 1915 in what is known as the Sayfo ("Sword") massacre.
A
photographer working with AFP and attending the event said he heard the blast
and saw pieces of flesh lying next to damaged cars.
"The
suicide attacker tried to enter the hall where people were gathered but was
stopped by local security forces, and he detonated himself among them," a
security source at the scene told AFP.
The
security forces belonged to the Sotoro, a Christian militia based in Syria's
northeast.
"Three
Sotoro members were killed and five wounded," the security source said.
One
Sotoro member told AFP that the suicide bomber "detonated himself near our
checkpoint after he couldn't reach his real target, Patriarch Ignatius."
Patriarch
Ignatius Aphrem II is the head of the Syriac Orthodox church and was leading
the commemoration.
Syria's
state news agency SANA also reported three people killed in a "terrorist suicide
explosion" in Qamishli but did not specify whether they were civilians or
security forces.
Situated
along the border with Turkey, Qamishli has been regularly targeted by suicide
bombings, many of which have been claimed by the Islamic State group.
Control
of the Kurdish-majority city is split between Kurdish militia and
pro-government fighters.
Syriac
Christians belong to the eastern Christian tradition and pray in Aramaic. They
include both Orthodox and Catholic branches, and constitute around 15 percent
of Syria's 1.2 million Christians.
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