Attacks against Pro-Turkey Factions Escalate in Northern Syria
Six people, including civilians, were killed on Monday in a car bomb explosion in the city of Afrin in northern Syria, at a time when the Turkish army continues to incur more losses as Kurdish factions step up their attacks in the area.
From time to time, Afrin and other cities controlled by Turkish forces and loyalists from Syrian opposition factions in northern Syria witness car and bicycle bomb explosions. No party claims responsibility for these attacks.
However, Ankara often blames Kurdish fighters, whom it labels as “terrorists,” for being behind the assaults.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said that “the car bomb explosion took place near the headquarters of the Jaysh al-Islam faction and close to a vegetable market” in Afrin.
According to the Observatory, the bombing killed three civilians, at least one Jaysh al-Islam fighter, and two unidentified individuals. Also, 12 civilians and fighters, including two children, were wounded.
More so, the Observatory reported that the local police had arrested two young men “suspected of being involved in carrying out the bombing.”
It is noteworthy that thousands of opposition fighters and civilians who were evacuated from several Syrian areas where regime forces took control currently reside in Afrin.
The region of Afrin was predominantly Kurdish and constituted the third Kurdish Autonomous Administration region before the Turkish forces, along with allied Syrian factions, took control of it in March 2018.
Since 2016, Turkey and Syrian factions have taken control of large border areas in northern Syria after several attacks they launched against Kurdish fighters and ISIS.
During September alone, the Observatory had documented four car bombings in Afrin.
The bombings resulted in several deaths and injuries among civilians and Syrian opposition fighters.
In one of the explosions, a leader from the Ankara loyalist Al-Hamza faction was killed alongside two of their companions.
