ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A man and his child were killed on Friday when an explosive device detonated outside a courthouse in the Kurdish-majority Hasaka province in northeast Syria (Rojava).
According to information obtained by Rudaw, the man, believed to be around 35 years old, was accompanied by two children between the ages of 10 and 15. The device detonated on the man as he attempted to throw it.
"The explosion happened here in front of the courthouse gate, its sound was very loud, and the man was severely injured," Mohammed Sadoun, a local worker who witnessed the incident, told Rudaw’s Viviyan Fetah.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), citing a security source, reported that the explosion occurred at around 9:30 in the morning and was caused by a "hand grenade."
Hasaka Health Director Khalid al-Khalid told Rudaw that authorities hold the bodies of both individuals and that there were no other wounded, noting that this is the first explosion to occur in Hasaka this year.
Khalid had earlier told state media that the casualties were "a man in his thirties and a 13-year-old child" who died of wounds sustained in the blast, adding that neither victim had been identified as “they carried no identification documents.”
No party has claimed responsibility for the incident. The Rojava Internal Security Forces (Asayish) have launched an investigation into the blast but have not yet issued a public statement.
Since the December 2024 ouster of longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, the new leadership in Damascus, led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has faced a series of security challenges and insurgent incidents as it works to stabilize the country.
Last update 8:00 PM.
