Turkey says car bomb kills 17 in northeastern Syria

Turkey’s Defense Ministry says 17 civilians have been killed in a car bomb explosion in northeastern Syria.

A ministry statement says about 20 people were wounded in the blast in the village of Tal Half, near the city of Ras al-Ayn.

Turkey-backed Syrian forces have held the area since a Turkish incursion in October to drive away Syrian Kurdish fighters who had partnered with the US against the Islamic State group.

Turkey considers the Kurdish fighters to be terrorists because of their links to Kurdish rebels fighting inside Turkey.

The ministry blamed the attack, the latest in a string of attacks in the area, on Syrian Kurdish fighters.

— AP