Beirut, Oct 12 (AFP) A jihadist car bombing targetingdisplaced Syrians in the northeastern province of Hasakehtoday killed at least 18 people, including Kurdish securityforces, a monitor said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rightssaid the attack was carried out by the Islamic State group andtook place in an area where Syrians displaced from Deir Ezzorprovince usually gather.
"At least 18 people, including displaced persons andmembers of the Asayesh Kurdish security forces, were killed,"Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Two separate offensives targeting IS are underway in theeastern oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor, one by Russia-backedgovernment forces and the other by US-backed Kurdish-Arabfighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
SDF spokesman Talal Sello confirmed a car bombingtargeting people displaced from Deir Ezzor, saying it tookplace in the Hasakeh's southern area of Abu Fass.
"Dozens of people were killed and wounded," Sello toldAFP.
After the blast, "the civilians escaped towards desertareas where mines exploded and the toll rose", he added,without providing further details.
Much of Hasakeh province and Hasakeh city are under thecontrol of a Kurdish "autonomous administration" with smallerparts of both controlled by the central government.
Abu Fass is where Kurdish authorities gather peopledisplaced by conflict before allowing them to enter campswhere they can shelter, the Observatory said.
Earlier today, the monitoring group, which relies on anetwork of sources inside war-torn Syria, said regime forceshad retaken four neighbourhoods in the town of Mayadeen inDeir Ezzor province.
The state news agency SANA confirmed that regime forceshad re-entered Mayadeen.
Last week, IS succeeded in expelling Syrian forces fromMayadeen two days after they entered the town.
A Syrian army source had recently described Mayadeen asthe "military capital" of the jihadist organisation in DeirEzzor. (AFP)RB.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.