11 killed as car bombs explode in Turkish-held north Syria: monitor

Eleven people lost their lives after car bombs exploded in two separate incidents in Turkish-held northern Syria on Sunday. According to a monitoring group, the deceased included six civilians.

The first attack took place near a cultural centre in the town of Azaz and killed six civilians, including a young girl, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

An AFP reporter at the scene saw a mangled car ablaze, black smoke billowing into the sky.

A man rushed away from the site of the blast, carrying what appeared to be a child wrapped in a bloodied cloth.

In the second incident, a car bomb targeted a checkpoint of pro-Ankara rebels near the town of Al-Bab, killing five fighters, the Observatory added.

Areas of northern Syria held by Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies are regularly rocked by such bombings.

There is usually no claim for them, although Turkey routinely blames Kurdish fighters it accuses of being “terrorists” linked to its outlawed Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK).

On Saturday, explosives planted in another vehicle took the lives of eight civilians including four children in the city of Afrin, which Turkish forces and their proxies seized from Kurdish forces in 2018.

Syria´s war has killed more than 387,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

It has since evolved into a complex conflict involving jihadists and foreign powers.

Northern neighbour Turkey has seized control of several regions inside Syria in military campaigns against the Islamic State group and Kurdish fighters since 2016.