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IS Attack Near Refugee Camp In Syria Leaves At Least 38 Dead

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A member of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces removes an Islamic State group flag in the town of Tabqa, about 55 kilometers west of Raqqa, on April 30.
A member of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces removes an Islamic State group flag in the town of Tabqa, about 55 kilometers west of Raqqa, on April 30.

A Syria monitoring group says an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants near a refugee camp in northeastern Syria killed at least 38 people.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 30 people also were wounded in the May 2 attack, which targeted a checkpoint at Rajm al-Salibi, the location of a refugee camp near the border between Syria and Iraq.

The predawn attack was in territory controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Monitors say IS fighters sneaked into the village of Rajm al-Salibi, located along a front line that separates the Kurdish-controlled Hasakeh Province and IS-held areas further south.

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

The SDF, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab militias, has seized large swaths of northern Syria from IS during the past year, and is now waging a campaign to drive the extremist group from its de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

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