Blast targets Kurdish area in northern Syria

At least 11 Kurdish fighters were either killed or wounded on Sunday during a blast that targeted their position in Syria's northern city of Qamishli, a monitor group reported.

A suicide bomber, who is believed to be a militant with the Islamic State (IS) group, detonated his explosive belt at a headquarter of the Asayish, or the Kurdish Security Forces, in central Qamishli, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog group, which tracks the Syrian war, said that "violent blast" was heard at early time Sunday in Qamishli.

Last March, at least 10 civilians were killed when a group of the IS militants attacked the Kurdish center in Qamishli, which is regarded the unofficial capital of the Kurds in the Kurdish region in northern Syria.

The IS and the Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units have recently been engaged in intense battles in the town of Tal Abyad, in the northern city of al-Raqqa bordering Turkey.

Reports said the Kurds succeeded last week in retaking the town, which had initially been inhabited by Kurds, Arabs and small communities of Turkmen and Christians before the IS captured it in June 2014 and pushed the minorities and the Kurds out of that area. Endit