The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Wednesday for a massive bomb attack that killed at least 44 people in Syria's Kurdish-majority Qamishli city. In a statement circulated on social media, it said the attack was carried out by a bomber in an explosives-laden truck. Syrian state media said 140 people were also wounded in the devastating blast. ISIS said the attack was "a response to the crimes committed by the crusader coalition aircraft" in the town of Manbij, a bastion of the jihadist group in Syria's Aleppo province. Kurdish fighters have been a key force battling the jihadists in north and northeastern Syria and are the main component in the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance currently seeking to oust ISIS from Manbij. 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. Qamishli has regularly been targeted in bomb attacks, many of which have been claimed by ISIS. It is under the shared control of the Syrian regime and Kurdish authorities, who have declared zones of "autonomous administration" across parts of north and northeast Syria.
