Al-Qaida Breakaway Group Kills Kurds in Northern Syria

Mechanic Imad Suleiman lives on site with his two grandchildren at the truck stop in Lebanon’s Bekaa region. With trucks coming in for repair, he cannot afford to put them in school. (John Owens/VOA)

Kurdish civilians are among the dead in a village in northern Syria attacked by fighters from an al-Qaida breakaway group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

A local Kurdish journalist (Muntasr Sino) told VOA's Kurdish service the dead included women and children as well as fighters killed in an exchange with Kurdish forces.

The attack reportedly took place Thursday near the Kurdish town of Ras al-Ain.

Reuters news agency says 15 Kurdish people were killed.

Fighting between ISIL and Syrian rebel groups has killed thousands of people this year, and hindered rebel efforts to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The ISIL group has also been known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.