Islamic State claims northern Syria bombings that killed 26

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for triple suicide bombings in northern Syria that killed at least 26 people.

The group said in a statement posted online that the attacks in the predominantly Kurdish province of Hassakeh targeted the offices of the main Kurdish militia known as YPG.

Syrian state TV and IS said the blasts, in the predominantly Christian town of Tal Tamr, killed 60 people while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said they killed 26, including four Assyrian Christians.

Dozens of people were wounded.

The YPG has been one of the most effective forces fighting IS and has captured dozens of villages and towns over the past year from the extremists, including Tal Tamr.