UPDATED: Terror attack in Syria's Qamishlo kills five

QAMISHLO, Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdistan24) – On Saturday, a suicide attack hit Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Qamishlo in the early morning, claiming the lives of several Kurdish security elements. 

Kurdistan24 initially learned that the explosion occurred in the city when a suicide bomber targeted a checkpoint belonging to the Kurdish internal security forces (Asayish).

The Kurdistan24 news team in Qamishlo rushed to the explosion site to obtain more information.

In the Kurdish-controlled neighborhood of Kournesh in Qamishlo, Kurdish security sources told Kurdistan24 that a detonated explosive device attached to a motorcycle near an Asayish checkpoint killed at least five security elements and wounded sevral civilians.

Up to the present moment, no party has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Kurdish security sources told Kurdistan24 that the attacker came from Al-Tai neighborhood which is controlled by a pro-Assad Arab tribe known as Al-Tai. 

“The bomber passed through our checkpoint every day on his motorcycle, saying hello, and often bought bread from a bakery near the checkpoint, but today we didn't know that he was going to explode himself,” security sources told a Kurdistan24 reporter.

The sources added that the bomber was living in Al-Tai neighborhood where pro-Assad militias known as National Defence Forces are trained. Most of the pro-Syrian regime militias are financed and trained by the Arab tribe Al-Tai.

The security sources preferred to remain unidentified until an official statement is released by the authorities.

The death toll may rise as there are some wounded and in critical condition who were transferred to local hospitals in the city.

Qamishlo has already been targeted by a series of explosions and suicide attacks in addition to intermittent clashes between the Kurdish forces of People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian government militias. 

The latest clashes took place two weeks ago and lasted for three days. Asayish forces seized the main prison in the city and several government-controlled positions after the conflict.

Qamishlo, in Hasakeh province, is under the shared control of the Syrian regime and Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its YPG military wing, who have declared zones of “autonomous administration” across parts of north and northeast Syria.

Reporting by Hisham Arafat

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany