IS attack kills US forces in north Syria

A suicide attack killed US servicemen in northern Syria yesterday, causing the United States to suffer its worst combat losses in the war-torn country since 2014 as it prepares to withdraw.

The bombing claimed by the IS group comes after US President Donald Trump's shock announcement last month that he was ordering a full troop withdrawal from Syria because the jihadists had been "largely defeated".

Reports said two Americans soldiers, nine Syrian civilians, and five US-backed fighters were killed in the attack on a restaurant in the northern city of Manbij near the Turkish border.

The bombing comes as Syrian Kurds present in areas around Manbij reject any Turkish presence in a planned "safe zone" to include Kurdish-held areas along the frontier.