The town has a predominantly Kurdish population. The area has been the scene of heavy battles recently between Kurdish gunmen and members of the Al-Qaeda breakaway group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

A Kurdish official in Qamishli, Juan Mohammed, confirmed Tuesday's attacks. He said there were casualties but had no exact figures.

The Hadaya hotel in the town's center functioned as the municipality building, he added.

The Syrian government has freed 25 prisoners in exchange for 13 Greek Orthodox nuns who had been held by Al-Qaeda-linked militants, the country's information minister said Tuesday.

Qatari and Lebanese officials, who were mediating between Damascus and the radical militants holding the nuns, said previously that 150 women prisoners were released early Monday.

"The real number of those who were freed in exchange for the release of the nuns, who were kidnapped by armed terrorist gangs, is 25 persons," Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said on state TV.

The nuns were captured in December as radical militants from al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front a Christian village, located north of the capital.

The women were held by al-Nusra group in Yabroud near the Syrian border with Lebanon.

In recent weeks, the town has been the scene of fierce fighting as Syrian army troops try to oust the foreign-backed radical militants from the border area.

SHI/SHI