Resurgent IS attack targets SDF soldiers in East Syria

A car bombing in eastern Syria on Friday killed at least 18 people including 11 members of a US-backed force that has fought the Islamic State group, a monitor of the conflict said.

"A car bomb went off in front of the Syrian Democratic Forces' base in Al-Bsayra town in the eastern Deir Az-Zour countryside," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It killed "a commander and ten other personnel, as well as seven civilians, including three children," he said.

IS claimed responsibility for the attack through its media outlet.

Some Kurdish news outlets posted pictures of the blast's aftermath on social media.

IS in 2014 declared a cross-border "caliphate" in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, but has since lost most of its territory to various military offensives.

In Deir Az-Zour province, the militants have been pushed back by two separate offensives: one by the SDF along the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, and another by Syrian regime forces on the western bank.

Despite its losses, IS still maintains a presence in villages in the Deir Az-Zour's east. 

In May, the SDF announced the final stage of its battle to expel IS from its last desert holdouts in eastern Syria.