More than 46 killed in a booby-trapped tanker explosion in Afrin northern Syria, including civilians and Syrian fighters loyal to Ankara

At least 46 people, including civilians and Syrian fighters loyal to Ankara, were killed on Tuesday in a booby-trapped fuel tanker explosion in a market in the city of Afrin in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“At least 46 people, including civilians, were killed and 50 wounded by an explosive device that was placed on a fuel tanker in a market in the city of Afrin,” which is controlled by Turkish forces and Syrian factions loyal to it, Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the observatory, told AFP.

The explosion caused the outbreak of fire led to roasted bodies, according to the observatory, which confirmed the presence of civilians among the victims and six Syrian fighters loyal to Ankara, at least.

The death toll is among the highest in the region since it was captured by Turkish forces two years ago.

In the tweet, the Turkish Ministry of Defense accused the Kurdish fighters of “targeting innocent civilians in Afrin”.

The state of Hatay Turkish security forces arrested a suspected bomber to bring the tank to the location of the bombing in the Syrian city of Afrin.

He noted the state border with Syria, in a statement, Tuesday, to extinguish the fire caused by the blast.

“Security forces arrested a suspect who brought the vehicle that exploded to the scene,” the statement added.

The statement pointed to the subordination of the injured for treatment in hospitals Hatay and Afrin.

Since March 2018, Turkish forces and pro-Syrian factions have controlled the Kurdish-majority Afrin region, which was considered the third Kurdish autonomous region, after a massive attack on Kurdish fighters whom Ankara considers “terrorists”.

Military operations, according to the United Nations, have forced half of the region’s 320,000 residents to flee.

The largest number of them were unable to return to their homes.

The region between the occasional bombings and assassinations affect leaders and members of the factions loyal to Ankara, without being adopted by anyone, while human rights organizations speak about “violations” caused to the Kurdish population who were not displaced from them.

Thousands of residents of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus live in Afrin, who were evacuated after the regime forces took control of their area in light of a widespread attack that followed years of bombing and siege.

Syria has been witnessing a bloody conflict since 2011, which killed more than 380,000 people, caused enormous damage to the infrastructure and productive sectors, and led to the displacement and displacement of millions of people.

On the other hand, the head of the Syrian opposition coalition, Anas Al Abda, described, on Tuesday, the bombing that occurred in the city of Afrin, killing and wounding dozens, as “a terrorist crime in the blessed month of Ramadan”.

“At a time when the whole world is cooperating to confront the Corona pandemic, and in the month of Ramadan, the terrorists continue to cast their black hatred on the Syrian people and on civilians in the liberated areas,” he said in an exclusive statement to Turkish official news agency Anadolu.

He added, “More than 42 martyrs, in addition to dozens of wounded and injured, and the final outcome is still ready for the rise, while the ambulance and civil defense teams are working to rescue and rescue the injured”.

Al Abda stressed in his statement that “the terrorist crime is a new attempt to turn the clock back, and to bring the region back into the path of chaos again”.

He concluded by saying, “We will work with all our capabilities to block the way in front of such attempts, and the Syrian National Army will continue to assume its responsibilities and adhere to its duties, in pursuing terrorist militias, and tracking their elements wherever they are”.