Syria: 3 killed at Christian massacre memorial

Three people were killed in northeast Syria on Sunday when a suicide bomber attacked an event commemorating the massacre of Christians more than a century ago, state media and a security source said.

The attack in the city of Qamishli took place as locals gathered at a hall to commemorate the deaths of tens of thousands of Christians by the Ottoman Army starting in 1915 in what is known as the Sayfo (Sword) massacre.

An eyewitness attending the event said he heard the blast and saw pieces of flesh lying next to damaged cars.

“The suicide attacker tried to enter the hall where people were gathered but was stopped by local security forces, and he detonated himself among them,” a security source at the scene said.

The security forces belonged to the Sotoro, a Christian militia based in Syria’s northeast.

“Three Sotoro members were killed and five wounded,” the security source said.

One Sotoro member said that the suicide bomber “detonated himself near our checkpoint after he couldn’t reach his real target, Patriarch Ignatius.”

Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II is the head of the Syriac Orthodox church and was leading the commemoration.