Bomb blast rocks Kurdish-majority city in NE Syria

At least five people have been killed after militants launched a bomb attack in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in the northeastern Hasakah province, near the Turkish border.

The incident occurred on Friday when the militants detonated an explosive-laden vehicle on a busy street in Qamishli, local media reported, saying nearly 30 people were injured in the blast.

But the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack targeted the headquarters of the pro-government militia known as National Defense Forces.

It said it was not clear if the dead were members of the paramilitary forces.

The blast in Qamishli follows months of fierce clashes between Kurdish fighters and Takfiri militant groups led by the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Kurdish militias have been able to drive out foreign-backed militants from most of their areas in northeastern Syria.

The Syrian military has largely scaled down its presence in Syria’s Kurdish majority regions since last year, but have maintained a limited presence in some areas.

Security in the northeastern and northwestern regions has been mainly under Kurdish control following the army’s withdrawal.