Bombing in north Syrian town of Afrin kills 20 civilians

Several others wounded in attack using fuel tanker, blamed on Syrian Kurdish fighters

By AP 28 April 2020, 6:23 pm

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Illustrative: Displaced Syrians ride in the back of a truck towards the Deir al-Ballut checkpoint to return to their villages in Afrin's countryside in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo, along the border with Turkey, on April 22, 2020. (Rami al Sayed/AFP)

ANKARA, Turkey — A powerful bomb exploded in a northern Syrian town controlled by Turkish-backed opposition fighters, killing at least 20 civilians Tuesday, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported.

Anadolu Agency said the attack in a crowded street in Afrin was carried out using a fuel tanker. Several other people were wounded.

The agency quoted unnamed security officials as saying the attack is believed to have been carried out by Syrian Kurdish fighters linked to Kurdish militants fighting Turkey.

Turkey and allied Syrian fighters took control of Afrin in 2018 in a military operation that expelled local Kurdish fighters and displaced thousands of Kurdish residents. Ankara considers the Kurdish fighters who were in control of Afrin terrorists. Since then, there have been a series of attacks on Turkish targets in the area.

Turkey supports the Syrian opposition in the war against Syrian President Bashar Assad but has joined with Russia to secure and monitor local ceasefires.