Syria conflict: 'At least 16 dead' in three restaurants blasts Published duration 31 December 2015

image copyright Reuters image caption The Miami Restaurant in Qamishli was one of at least two targeted by bombers

At least 16 people have been killed and 30 wounded in three blasts in a Kurdish-controlled city in Syria, a monitoring group has said.

The attacks targeted restaurants in Qamishli, near the border with Turkey, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

At least one of the blasts was a suicide attack, the Observatory said.

So-called Islamic State (IS) has said it was behind several attacks in Kurdish areas in recent weeks.

"Three explosions, one by a suicide bomber inside a restaurant, hit Qamishli city in Hasakeh province," SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP news agency.

An IS-linked news agency, Amaq, said the group carried out the bombings.

image copyright Reuters image caption The inside of Miami Restaurant was completely destroyed

image copyright Reuters image caption Blood stains were visible on the ground outside the restaurant

image copyright Reuters image caption Dozens of wounded were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment

Qamishli, in Syria's north-east, serves as a base for the YPG - a Kurdish militia fighting against IS.

The city is under shared control of YPG and regime forces. According to the SOHR, all three explosions happened in a zone controlled by the government.

The YPG is working in conjunction with the US-led air offensive against IS. In October, the militia joined a new US-backed ground alliance, the Democratic Forces of Syria.