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>At least 22 people area dead after an Isis suicide bomber targeted a Kurdish wedding party in northeast Syria, a monitor has said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of contacts across the country, revised the death toll from Monday’s attack in Hasekeh province up from 12 to 22. Dozens of people were wounded, Rami Abdulrahman of SOHR said. Kurdish media put the numebr of wounded at 47.

The ceremony in the Kurdish-controlled village of al-Tal was for a member of the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an umbrella group which has been fighting Isis in the north of the country. The groom was reported as among the dead.

Isis claimed responsibility for the incident online across several social media accounts with a statement which said a militant ambushed the Kurdish party inside a hall with a machine gun, and after running out of ammunition used a suicide vest on the “PKK [Kurdish Workers’ Party] apostates."

Graphic video from Kurdish news sites purportedly showing the aftermath of the attack show broken glass and concrete everywhere. The floor of the hall is covered in blood.

Isis previously attacked a wedding party in Gaziantep in the Kurdish region of Turkey in August. 54 people died in the blast, which President Recep Erdogan said was carried out by a child aged between 12-14, although Isis did not claim responsibility.

The terror group has lost swathes of its territory on the Turkish/Syrian border to advances by Kurdish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels since Turkey launched Operation Euphrates on August 24th.

Free Syrian Army groups are currently advancing on Dabiq, a village in northwest Syria of extreme ideological importance to Isis. Losing control of Dabiq would be a significant morale blow to the group.</s>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>At least 22 people were killed and dozens more wounded in the explosion near the city of Hasaka, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The groom was among those killed, SOHR founder Rami Abdulrahman said.

The group cited sources as saying a suicide bomber set off the explosion inside a wedding hall in the village of Tal Tawil, which is under the control of Syrian Kurdish forces. Kurdish forces are playing a key role in fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement that was posted on Twitter and retweeted by several ISIS supporters. The statement said an ISIS suicide bomber ambushed a Kurdish Workers' Party gathering on the outskirts of Hasaka with a machine gun, and after he ran out of ammunition, the attacker blew up his explosive vest among the "PKK apostates."

Citing a recent spate of attacks by Russia and its Syrian regime allies on hospitals and other civilian areas in Aleppo, the United States accused Russia of failing to uphold a ceasefire and trying "to bomb civilian populations into submission," in the process preventing humanitarian aid from reaching people in need. Government forces now control the strategic area around al-Kindi Hospital in northern Aleppo, pro-regime media and activists said, strengthening their push toward the rebel-held eastern part of the city. The past week's assault on rebel-held areas of the key city involved some of the worst violence since the start of the war in 2011. Sunday, the Syrian military called on rebels to leave the besieged eastern areas of Aleppo, saying the Syrian and Russian armies "guarantee their safety," according to a statement from the Syrian Armed Forces. Terrorist groups including ISIS have taken advantage of country's instability to mount their own attacks.</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.
A suspected female suicide bomber kills at least 20 people at a Kurdish wedding in the Syrian city of Al-Hasakah.