45 killed in attack on Syrian Kurds

The Islamic State extremist group has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks across Syria that left dead dozens of people, in an announcement on its radio station.

In the message broadcast Saturday on Al-Bayan radio, IS said it was behind explosions.

 Forty-five people, including five children, were killed in attacks on Syrian Kurds as they celebrated their new year, a monitor said Saturday. 

The attacks occurred Friday in what was one of IS's bloodiest days in Syria, as the Sunni Muslim extremist group killed more than 120 people across the war-ravaged country.

"There are now 45 dead from last night's attacks in Hasakeh, as most of those who were in critical condition passed away," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, updating its toll after initially reporting 33 dead.

Two explosions struck as members of Syria's Kurdish minority took part in festivities on the eve of Newroz, the Kurdish new year, in the northeastern city of Hasakeh.

"They were lighting the candles at night, and there were a lot children around," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. He said the explosions were a few hundred meters apart from each other, with at least one caused by a suicide bomber in a vehicle.

The fear of additional attacks dimmed the Newroz spirit in Hasakeh on Saturday.

"Today is supposed to be a day about freedom, but people were afraid of celebrating," Abdel Rahman said. Hasakeh city is under the control of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and regime forces, but IS militants have attacked towns nearby.

The jihadist offensive has sparked fierce clashes with Kurdish militia in the strategic province along Syria's borders with Iraq and Turkey.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemned Friday's "heinous" attacks, while the commander of the Kurdish security forces, Joan Ibrahim, said "the crime that occurred today in Hasakeh will not pass without retribution." 

The SANA state news agency said the Syrian foreign ministry sent a message Saturday to Ban and the UN Security Council after the attacks.

It called on the international community to "end its policy of double standards when it comes to terrorism and terrorist groups." The message warned that "the terrorists' fire will not stop at the borders of Syria, but will spread throughout the world." 

It called on the Security Council to "take action against terrorist groups and the states that support or sponsor them."

Jihadists also attacked government positions in the central provinces of Homs and Hama Friday, killing at least 82 members of forces loyal to the Syrian regime. Sixty-two of those deaths were in Hama alone in IS attacks along a key road leading north to Aleppo.