Islamic State militants kill dozens at Syrian refugee camp

May 2 (UPI) -- More than three dozen people were killed Tuesday in an Islamic State attack on a makeshift camp for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, Kurdish fighters said.

It was one of the largest recent attacks in Syria's northeastern province of Hasaka, near the border with Iraq.

Islamic State militants clashed with Syrian Democratic Forces stationed at a checkpoint near the al-Hol camp. It hosts nearly 17,000 refugees, according to the International Rescue Committee.

SDF said Islamic State forces also attacked its forces in the nearby town of Shadadeh with suicide bombers.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said at least five IS suicide bombers attacked SDF forces at a refugee camp in Rajm al-Salibi, east of Shaddadi.

Syria's official Sana news agency did not say whether anyone was killed in the suicide bombings.

SDF, a Kurdish-led force that works with the United States, is close to fully capturing the strategic Euphrates River Valley town of al-Tabqah from Islamic State, also known as ISIL, ISIS and Daesh.