Car bomb blast in northern Syria kills at least 20

 

Car bomb blast in northern Syria kills at least 20

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The country's presidential administration says at least 20 people, mostly women, were killed in a car bombing in northern Syria.

Syria's civil defense agency, known as the White Helmets, said a car loaded with explosives exploded on a main road south of the city of Manbij as a flatbed truck carrying about 30 farm workers was passing by.

The agency had previously reported 15 people killed, including 11 women and three girls, and another 15 women and girls were injured, some seriously.

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The presidential administration has pledged to ensure that those responsible for what it called "terrorist" attacks are "severely punished."

No armed group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, the deadliest since the rebels toppled President Bashar al-Assad in December.

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The commander of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led coalition that controls much of northeastern Syria, condemned the attack as a "criminal act" that threatened the "fabric of national unity."

His communications chief had previously claimed the bombing was one of the "basic tactics" used by the Turkish-backed group. Known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), the SDF has been fighting in the Manbij area for the past two months.

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The SNA has not commented on the allegations. However, Turkey’s Syrian Islamic Council has accused the SDF of being behind the bombings.

Monday’s car bombing was the second such attack in the Manbij area in just three days.

On Saturday, two children and a woman were among four people killed in a street bombing in the city center, the Syrian Defense Ministry said.

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The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bombings hit near military positions belonging to the Syrian National Army (SNA), killing nine people, including several Turkish-backed fighters.