Damascus, April 9 (IANS/AKI): The Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front terrorist group has said one of its commanders died in the twin car bombings, allegedly carried out by the Islamic State (IS), in Syria's Aleppo province, media reported on Wednesday.

"Abu Maria, Al-Nusra Front's emir (leader) in Marea, northern Aleppo, was martyred after being targeted by a car bomb by the (Islamic) State group," Al-Nusra said on its official Twitter account.

After the two overnight car bombings in the village of Hawar Kilis, near the Turkish border and against a joint rebel office in the town of Marea, photos of the two "martyr" bombers were posted on Twitter accounts known to be used for IS propaganda.

The Britain-based Syria Human Rights Observatory (SOHR) watchdog group monitoring the war in Syria said on Wednesday that the number of people killed in the two bombings had risen to 32 from an earlier toll of 23.

The observatory described the attacks as an attempt by the IS to expand into the Aleppo province.