Syrian state TV says 22 killed in auto bomb in northern Syria

“Over 100 people were injured; the death toll number will increase”, the source said.

The explosion was so powerful that it shattered windows in shops in the nearby Turkish town of Nusaybin which is directly across the border from where the blast occurred.

The IS so-called news agency (Amaq) claims the target was a government building with a Kurdish police station.

Syrian state media gave a toll of 44 dead and 140 injured in the bombing, which hit a western district of the city where several local Kurdish ministries are located.

There’s also a significant presence of the Kurdish-U.S backed democratic forces that are fighting on the northern side of the country against the Islamic State.

The latest attack comes amid intense fighting in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, where more than 50 people have been killed in recent days. Two people were slightly hurt in Nusaybin, a witness said. In retaliation ISIS has bombed the area repeatedly, most recently in April, killing six members of the Kurdish internal security force; as well as in July, when a suicide bomb killed 16.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army has announced that pro-government forces are interrupting supply into ISIS-controlled Aleppo by tightening their grip on the province.

While Qamishli has been targeted before, the group says this is the biggest explosion ever to hit the city.

The attack was initially described as a double bombing, but local Kurdish officials said it was carried out by a single suicide bomber driving a lorry laden with explosives.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Wednesday’s explosion came as US-backed Kurdish forces pressed ahead with their offensive to take the Isis-held town of Manbij, also in northern Syria but to the east of Qamishli.

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Hospitals across the city put out urgent calls for donations of all blood types in the wake of the blasts.