IS claims bombing of Syrian rebels near Turkey that killed 20

BEIRUT — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing in a northwestern Syrian village that killed at least 20 people, including many Turkey-backed opposition fighters. The Islamic State group considers Atmeh a priority location because Islamic prophecies say it is the site of an end-of-times battle between Muslims and their "Roman rivals" – a term the extremist group has now expanded to include the Unite States and its allies, BBC reported. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that although airstrikes have almost stopped on the besieged eastern rebel-held neighbohroods of the city, government forces were pushing ahead in their ground offensive. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the blast in Atmeh on Thursday morning was either caused by a suicide bomber or a remotely detonated bomb. Another group, the Local Coordination Committees, said the blast was caused by a bag filled with explosives that went off on the Syrian side of a border crossing, killing 35 people including two senior judicial officials from the opposition. In the Islamic State group's claim, the IS-linked Aamaq news agency said a suicide car bomber struck a convoy of rebels on the Syrian side of a border crossing point in Atmeh.
A bombing in rebel controlled Atme, Idlib Governorate, near the Syria–Turkey border, kills at least 29 people, mostly rebel fighters, and injures dozens more. ISIL claims responsibility.