IS suicide bomber kills 5 in Syria's Raqa: Monitor

An Islamic State group suicide bomber attacked a centre for Kurdish forces in the northern Syrian city of Raqa on Monday, killing four civilians and an anti-jihadist fighter, a monitor said.

The attacker blew himself up after entering the centre run by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"A suicide attacker wearing an explosives belt blew himself up inside a YPG centre after opening fire on a security checkpoint at its entrance," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

At least four civilians and a YPG fighter were killed in the attack, he added.

The YPG forms the backbone an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling to expel IS from its last redoubt in eastern Syria.

IS claimed responsibility for the attack they said targeted a "recruitment centre" for Kurdish forces.

"The attacker aimed at them with a machine gun then blew up his explosives vest in the middle of ...