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Three killed in bombing claimed by Islamic State in northeast Syria


    BEIRUT (Reuters) - A bomb attack claimed by Islamic State killed at least three people in the city of Qamishli in the mostly Kurdish-controlled Hasaka province of northeast Syria on Sunday, a Kurdish official and a monitoring group said.

    The motorcycle bomb went off in a mostly Christian area and wounded another seven people, said Redur Xelil of the Kurdish YPG militia.

    Islamic State claimed the attack in a statement posted online shortly after the incident. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the civil war in Syria, confirmed the blast and the casualties.

    Twin suicide bombings also claimed by Islamic State killed and wounded dozens of people at the end of December. The jihadist group has carried out a number of attacks in Hasaka province, including one that killed dozens of people earlier that month.

    The YPG is fighting IS in Hasaka province with the support of U.S.-led air strikes. It has been the most effective partner on the ground in Syria for the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS.

    (Reporting by John Davison; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)