Adding to a string of suicide attacks in both Iraq and Syria around the end of Ramadan, a motorcycle bomber hit a bakery in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh this evening, killing at least 16 civilians in a Kurdish-dominated neighborhood.
The bakery, like a lot of bakeries around the Muslim world, had long lines of customers looking to buy baked goods for Eid al-Fitr, a major celebratory feast that marks the end of Ramadan. In addition to killing 16 people, the bombing wounded at least 40 others.
Reports out of the area suggest that among the wounded, some 15 remain gravely so, and that it is likely the final death toll will be a bit higher. Officials have not identified the attacker, who reportedly just drove up to the bakery’s entrance and detonated.
Hasakeh is the de facto capital of the territory held by the Kurdish YPG, and has regularly been targeted by ISIS throughout the war. Though they have yet to claim responsibility for the latest incident, they are responsible for materially all such attacks in that area.