Suicide bomb kills 6 Kurdish security personnel in northeast Syria

A suicide bomb blast killed at least six members of the Kurdish internal security forces operating in the town of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.  

 

The explosion, which targeted a checkpoint of the force known as the Asayish, also wounded five others, the British-based monitoring group said.  

 

The powerful Kurdish YPG militia controls large swathes of northeastern Syria including most of Hasaka province.  

 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. Islamic State, which the YPG is fighting against, has carried out bomb attacks against Kurdish forces in the area.  

 

A bombing in December also targeted a Christian-inhabited area of Qamishli.  

 

The YPG has been the most effective partner on the ground for a U.S.-led aerial campaign against Islamic State in Syria.

 

Last week Qamishli was the scene of a rare outbreak of fighting between Kurdish forces and Syrian government militiamen, who have mostly avoided confrontation in Syria's five-year civil war.