Fuel truck bomb blast kills 40 including children in Syria

At least 40 civilians including 11 children have been killed in a fuel tanker bomb blast in a northern Syrian town controlled by Turkish-backed opposition fighters. About 50 people were wounded in the incident, said Turkey’s defence ministry. The ministry said a Twitter post that an explosion took place on Tuesday in a crowded city of Afrin.

Syrian activists said the blast on Tuesday burned several people to death, including some who were stuck inside the vehicles. 10 charred bodies covered with blankets were seen next to ambulances in the hospital yard, according to videos and photos circulated by activists. Meanwhile, Turkey’s defence ministry blamed that the attack caused by the banned Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), however, no one has claimed responsibility yet.

Ankara accuses the YPG of being a terrorist group linked to the Kurdish armed group Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). As a result, Turkey has launched a military operation to remove them from the Turkish border area in northern Syria. It is worth to be mentioned that Turkey and allied Syrian opposition fighters YPG took control of Afrin in a military operation in 2018.

However, Ankara has always blamed the YPG for such attacks. However, they (YPG) have been saying that they have no “conflict with the general people.” Similar explosions in areas controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters have killed many people in recent months, attacks that Ankara blames on Kurdish fighters.