Displaced civilians among 37 killed in ISIS attack in northeast Syria

ISIS militants staged a surprise attack early Tuesday in northeastern Syria, killing at least 37people, most of them civilians who had fled fighting in areas of Syria and Iraq held by the extremist group, a Kurdish spokesman and Syrian activists said.

The pre-dawn attack took place after militants sneaked into the village of Rajm Sleibi, located along a front line that separates the Kurdish-controlled Hasakeh province and ISIS-held areas further south.

Some militants reportedly blew themselves up at a Kurdish checkpoint, while others attacked sleeping civilians in a nearby temporary camp sheltering hundreds of displaced people who fled ISIS-controlled territory.

The village, near the Iraqi border, houses a temporary camp sheltering hundreds of displaced people who fled ISIS-controlled territory in Syria and Iraq.

Media activists in Hasakeh said victims arriving to the city's hospitals showed evidence of stabbing, knife and shot wounds.

Redur Khalil, a spokespersonfor the main Kurdish fighting force in Syria, said the attack started with an early morning assault by militants on a checkpoint in Rajm Sleibi belonging to the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed Kurdish-dominated force that fights the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The militants then "committed a massacre" against civilians as they sought to enter SDF-controlled territory, Khalil said.

Important stronghold

Khalil told The Associated Press the attack came a few hours after ISIS suicide bombers dressed in civilian clothes sneaked into the town of Shaddadeh and engaged SDF forces, triggering clashes that were ongoing.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the Syrian conflict through activists on the ground, said Tuesday's attack included suicide bombers and heavy clashes with the Kurdish-dominated U.S.-backed rebels. The Observatory said the death toll was 38, including 23 civilians, many of them Iraqi.Hawar, a news agency for the semi-autonomous Kurdish areas in Syria, put the death toll at 37.

ISIS is under attack by an array of forces in Syria and Iraq.

• Key moments in the Syrian conflict
• False hopes? U.S. attack raises expectations

In Syria, the Kurdish-dominated SDF, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, is now fighting to recapture the town of Tabqa from ISIS.

The town is an important stronghold for the militants, located about 40 kilometressoutheast of their de facto capital, the city of Raqqa. The Kurdish-led opposition fighters have pushed the extremists to northern neighbourhoods of Tabqa, close to one of Syria's largest dams and Kurdish officials anticipate the battle for Tabqa might be won in the coming hours.

In Iraq, the extremist group is fighting for survival against Iraqi forces and their allies in the last neighbourhoods it still holds in the western part of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.

Fleeing Syria

Rajm Sleibi lies about 30 kilometressouth of the town of al-Hol, which houses a large refugee camp for civilians displaced from Syria and Iraq. A Kurdish activist said it is the entry point to Hassakeh for Syrians civilians fleeing the eastern cities of Deir el-Zour and Raqqa in Syria, and those fleeing from Mosul and elsewhere in Iraq. The civilians initially spend about two weeks in Rajm Sleibi while they get security clearance from Kurdish authorities, and from there are taken then to al-Hol camp.

Issam Amin, a media activist in Hasakeh, said the victims arriving at the city's hospitals had stabbing and knife wounds.

• OPINION |No decent politician should profess to be shocked

According to what he heard, the attack was carried out by just six ISIS militants who came in a hummer and shot and stabbed displaced Syrians and Iraqis waiting to be let into SDF areas.

The camp is within the zone of influence of the SDF but not immediately protected by the forces.

Syrian state-owned news agency SANA also reported the attack and said more than 30 people, including women and children, were killed and 34 others were wounded in the ISIS attack on Rajm Sleibi.