Daily Times

HASAKEH, Syria: A suicide bomber has struck a wedding in northeast Syria as the bride and groom were exchanging vows, killing 34 people and wounding dozens, the local Kurdish government 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. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed the attack, saying that one of its fighters had fired on a gathering near Hasakeh city before blowing himself up, though it did not mention a wedding.

Rows of seats in the hall that hosted the party were still covered in blood on Tuesday morning when an AFP photographer visited the scene. Broken tiles littered the floor and torn fabric hung from the ceiling. A thick layer of dust covered a sound mixer and keyboard.

“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.”

Wedding photographer Walid Mohammad said that he was taking pictures of the party when he felt a huge explosion. “I saw so many people die – small kids, old people.” The local Kurdish adminstration said that 34 people had been killed and around 90 wounded, among them women and children.