At least 43 killed in car bomb in Syrian town of Azaz

[Anthea]

At least 43 killed in car bomb in Syrian town of Azaz

At least 43 people were killed Saturday when a car bomb went off in a busy market in a rebel-held Syrian town along the Turkish border, activists and rescue workers said.

The explosion ripped through the central market in the town of Azaz in the northern province of Aleppo, damaging a government building and local court house as well. Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, said those killed included six opposition fighters. He said the explosion was caused by a rigged water or fuel tanker, which explains the large blast and high death toll.

Other activist groups, including the Azaz Media center, put the death toll at 50, adding that search and rescue operations continued for at least two hours after the explosion. The Observatory said the explosion took place near the local court house operated by rebel groups.

Media activist Baha al-Halabi, based in Aleppo province and who gathered information from people in Azaz, said witnesses said there were many unidentified bodies because of the strength of the explosion. Images shared online showed a huge plume of black smoke rising above the chaotic market and sounds of gunfire echoing in the background as onlookers gathered around the site. Bodies were strewn on the ground as a father ran away from the scene hugging his child.

Many rebels and civilians who were pushed out of Aleppo city during a massive government offensive late last year resettled in Azaz. To the west of Azaz, Syrian Kurdish forces have control of a swath of land, and they have often tried to advance toward the town, causing friction with Turkish troops and allied Syrian opposition fighters. To the east, opposition fighters backed by Turkey have been pushing back Islamic State extremists, gaining territory and advancing on the IS-stronghold town of al-Bab, further east.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/0 ... tion-says/

[Anthea]

Fuel tanker packed with explosives blows up killing at least 43 people and injures dozens in a suspected ISIS attack on civilians outside an Islamic courthouse in a rebel-held Syrian town

The attack was near a market in the town of Azaz near the border with Turkey
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have said the death toll is likely to rise
The blast comes as a fragile ceasefire is being observed across much of Syria
More than 310,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began

In unsourced comments, Turkey's privately-owned Dogan news agency said a car bomb planted by Islamic State was responsible.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the terror group.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency cited a doctor in Azaz as saying at least 60 people had been killed and more than 50 wounded.

An Azaz resident who went to the local hospital told Reuters he had counted around 30 bodies laid out.

The Britain-based group said six rebels were among the dead, but most were believed to be civilians.

In November, rebels said 25 people - civilians and opposition fighters - were killed in a car bomb attack on a rebel headquarters.

The rebels accused the Islamic State group of being behind that attack.

The jihadist group is present elsewhere in Aleppo province and has sought to advance on Azaz in the past.

In October, at least 17 people were killed in a car bomb attack on a rebel checkpoint, the Observatory said.

The blast comes as a fragile ceasefire is being observed across much of Syria.

The truce negotiated by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey does not include the Islamic State group or former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front.

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