A car bomb in a village near al-Bab in Syria struck Syrian rebels fighting ISIS early Friday, killing at least 45 people and wounding dozens more, activists and Zaman al-Wasl reporter said.
The Turkey-backed rebels Thursday drove ISIS from al-Bab, the extremist group's last significant stronghold in northwest Syria, along with two smaller neighboring towns of Qabasin and al-Bezah, after weeks of street fighting.
The car bomb struck military and security offices in Sousian, which is behind the rebel lines about eight km (five miles) northwest of al-Bab, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based activist group, said.
On Thursday, several Turkey-backed rebels were killed by a mine in al-Bab while clearing the town of unexploded ordnance after ISIS retreated, the Observatory said.
Syria's main conflict pits Bashar Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and Shi'ite militias, against rebels that include groups supported by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.
However, both those sides, as well as a group of militias led by Kurdish forces and supported by the U.S., are also fighting ISIS, which holds large swathes of northern and eastern Syria.
Turkey directly intervened in Syria in August in support of a group of rebel factions fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner to drive ISIS from its border. It also wants to stop Kurdish groups from gaining control of most of the frontier.
After taking al-Bab Thursday, Turkish forces shelled ISIS in the smaller neighboring town of Tadef, the Observatory reported. The area immediately to the south of Tadef is held by the Syrian army and its allies. (With Reuters)
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