DHAKA: A car bomb has exploded in a predominantly Kurdish town in northern Syria, killing at least 50 people and wounding dozens.

Syrian state TV said the car blew up on the western edge of the town of Qamishli, near the Turkish border on Wednesday, reports Al Jazeera.

The Islamic State (IS) of Iraq and Syria claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the explosion targeted a centre of the local Kurdish police and a nearby government building.

IS has carried out several bombings in Kurdish areas in Syria in the past.

The predominantly Kurdish US-backed Syria Democratic Forces have been the main force fighting IS in northern Syria and have captured wide areas from the hardline fighters.

“This was a large attack,” said Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Gaziantep in Turkey, which is close to the Syrian border.

“The death toll could significantly rise throughgout the day.”

The latest attack came amid intense fighting in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, where more than 50 people have been killed in recent days.

As the war drags on towards its sixth year, there is a renewed international push to restart the stalled Syria political talks next month.

Speaking in Geneva on Tuesday, following a closed-door meeting with US and Russian officials, Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy to Syria, said Washington and Moscow had been discussing ways to work towards the reintroduction of a ceasefire.

BDST: 1548 HRS, JUL 27, 2016
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