The United States has condemned the multiple suicide attacks carried out by Islamic State forces in a Kurdish-held town in northeastern Syria, saying the blasts targeted and killed many civilians.
A series of truck bombs in Tel Tamer in Hasakeh province late Thursday killed at least 22 people, including some women and a doctor, and wounded dozens, according to a monitoring group. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bombs went off near a health center and a vegetable market.
The State Department issued a statement Saturday calling the attacks "a barbaric act of mass murder."
"This attack once again displays the horrific atrocities that ISIL has perpetrated against tens of thousands of innocent people across Syria and Iraq," the statement said, using an acronym for the militant group.
Tel Tamer is controlled by Kurdish YPG forces, which have for months been battling Islamic State fighters in the area with the help of U.S.-led airstrikes. The YPG is one of the strongest Western-backed opposition forces to emerge in the fight against IS.
