A suicide bomber has struck a wedding in northeast Syria as the bride and groom were exchanging vows, killing 32 people and wounding dozens, a medical source and witnesses said.

The bomber blew himself up late Monday in the village of Tall Tawil in Hasakeh province where a Kurdish party official was getting married.

Rows of seats in the wedding hall were still covered in blood on Tuesday morning, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

“As the bride and groom were exchanging their vows I saw a man wearing a thick black jacket pass beside me,” a witness named Ahmad said.

“I thought he looked strange and a few seconds later there was an enormous explosion.

“People had fallen on the ground and I saw bodies torn to bits.”

About 100 people were wounded, according to the medical source in Hasakeh city who gave the updated toll.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, gave a slightly lower toll of 31 people killed.

The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group said in a statement that one of its fighters had fired on a “large gathering” of Kurdish fighters near Hasakeh city before blowing himself up.

The claim, which did not mention a wedding, said 40 people had been killed.

Both the groom and bride were safe, but the groom’s father and brother were killed in the attack, a relative told AFP.

“The groom’s wounds are light, and he and his new wife are staying at a relative’s home. He doesn’t want to see anyone,” he said.

“They are really shaken up by this.”

The groom, Zaradesht Mustafa Fatimi, hails from a prominent family deeply involved in the autonomous administration run by Kurdish factions in Syria’s north.

According to an official from the autonomous administration, Fatimi works for a local Kurdish party.

The Observatory said he is also a member of the Syrian Democratic Forces, an Arab-Kurdish coalition battling IS in northern Syria.

Hasakeh city is almost entirely held by Kurdish forces but Syria’s regime still holds some districts. The city has often been targeted by IS jihadists. </s> A suicide bomber killed at least 13 people when an explosive device was detonated inside a Kurdish wedding hall in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasaka, state media and a monitor said on Monday.

State television, quoting a police source in the city, said the initial toll also included 55 injured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 14 were killed in the blast, adding the number was expected to rise with many of the wounded in critical condition.

The city is mainly in the hands of the Kurdish YPG militia after it evicted the Syrian army last August and leaving them with a symbolic foothold in a security zone in the center of the city. </s> AMMAN (Reuters) - A bomb killed at least 20 people at a Kurdish wedding in the northeast Syrian city of Hasaka on Monday, a Kurdish militia and a monitoring group said, while state media said the casualties had risen to at least 30 dead.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 22 died in the blast, adding that many of the wounded were in a critical condition. Among those killed were the groom and a leading Kurdish party figure, the Observatory said.

Scores of wounded were rushed to the city’s hospitals, which appealed for blood donations, it said.

The Kurdish YPG, or People’s Protection Units, said in a statement at least 20 people were killed and dozens injured, adding it was not clear whether the blast was caused by a explosive device or a suicide bomber.

Syrian state media said at least 30 were killed and 90 injured in the blast.

A statement by Amaq news agency, which is close to Islamic State militants, said a suicide bomber had attacked a gathering of Kurdish YPG fighters on the edge of the city with machineguns and an explosive vest. They did not give further details.

Earlier on Monday two suicide bombers killed a number of people in the Syrian government-held city of Hama, the state news agency SANA reported.[L5N1C92R3]

The first blew himself up using an explosive belt in a square in the city’s al-Hader district, followed 15 minutes later by a second in the same location, SANA reported, citing a police source.

Some unconfirmed reports said a woman suicide bomber may have been behind the Hasaka attack.

Hasaka is mainly in the hands of the YPG militia after it evicted the Syrian army in August.

The incident took place in early evening at a public hall on the highway between Hasaka and Kurdish-controlled Qamishli city, further northeast.

Islamic State militants have been driven out of most of Hasaka province, but the group continues to wage hit-and-run attacks on Kurdish forces. Washington considers the Kurds its main ally against the militants, arming and equipping them. </s> BEIRUT — Syrian activists and a Kurdish news agency say a suicide bomber has struck a wedding hall just outside the northeastern Syrian city of Hassakeh.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists inside Syria, says the attack killed 14 people, with the toll expected to rise. The Kurdish Hawar news agency confirmed the attack but did not provide a toll.

Syrian Kurdish forces control most of the Hassakeh province, but the Syrian government maintains some strongholds there.

Islamic State militants have repeatedly targeted the Kurds, who have proven to be among the most effective ground forces battling the extremist group.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. </s> Iraq's Defense Ministry said a twin suicide bombing targeting a village wedding north of Baghdad has killed at least 20 people Wednesday, March 8. The ministry said two suicide bombers walked into the wedding party in Al-Hajaj village, near the city of Tikrit, on Wednesday evening. It said up to 13 people were wounded.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Sun-Star. </s> An Iraqi security official says a suicide bomber has struck a wedding south of Baghdad, killing at least 15 people.

Lt. Gen. Qais al-Mohammedawi says five suicide bombers took part in the attack in the village of Ein Tamr on Monday, but that the other four were killed by security forces.

Ein Tamr is about 40 km (25 miles) west of the Shiite holy city of Karbala. </s> ERBIL: Twin suicide bomb blasts at a wedding party in a village near the Iraqi city of Tikrit on Wednesday killed at least 23 people, a local government official said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in Hajjaj village. </s> Another 16 people were wounded at the wedding Sunday evening in Karbala.

A statement released by the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said four suicide attackers targeted "a Shiite gathering."

Iraqi authorities said there were five would-be suicide bombers, and that security members killed four.

The attacker who targeted the wedding sprayed the crowd with automatic gunfire and threw hand grenades before detonating his suicide vest, officials said. </s> HILLA, Iraq (Reuters) - A woman suicide bomber killed at least 31 people and wounded 35 in a crowded market in the town of Musayab, 80 km (50 miles) south of Baghdad, on Friday, security sources said.

Islamic State claimed the attack, as well as one at the main bus station in the Shi’ite holy city of Kerbala, just west of Musayab, which killed three people and wounded 15.

A security officer said the bomber in Musayab was a woman and had hidden the bomb under her full-body veil.

Islamic State’s statements identified both bombers as men.

The hardline Sunni Muslim insurgents declared a self-styled “caliphate” over parts of Syria and Iraq three years ago but are now on the brink of losing Mosul, their de-facto capital in Iraq, to a U.S.-backed Iraqi offensive launched in October.

They are also on the back foot in Syria, retreating in the face of a U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led military coalition attacking Raqqa, Islamic State’s urban redoubt there.
A suspected female suicide bomber kills at least 20 people at a Kurdish wedding in the Syrian city of Al-Hasakah.