At least 16 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 20 more injured Saturdaywhen the bomb exploded Saturday in central Tal Abyad, which was captured last month by Turkey-backed opposition gunmen from Kurdish-led fighters.
A bomb-laden vehicle targeted a busy marketplace in Tal Abyad’s district center, according to initial reports.
As the wounded are referred to the nearby hospitals in Turkey’s border city of Sanliurfa, the death toll is feared to rise.
Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) rebels, who rushed to the scene, are evaluating the possibility of KurdishYPG’s role in the attack.
Turkey launched an anti-terror operation, Operation Peace Spring, on Oct. 9 to eliminate terrorists from northern Syria in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.
Turkey's Defense Ministry blamed Syrian Kurdish fighters for the attack, saying it harshly condemns it and called on the international community to take a stance against this "cruel terror organization."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Turkey last month invaded northeastern Syria to push out Syrian Kurdish fighters, who it considers terrorists for their links to a Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey.
A Kurdish-led force says Christian fighters will now oversee security in a northern Syrian region that has witnessed fighting between Turkey-backed fighters and Kurdish-led militiamen.
The Syrian Democratic Forces said Saturday that the deployment will take place in villages close to the town of Tal Tamr in the Khabur river region. That area is home to Syria's dwindling Christian Syriac and Assyrian communities.
Turkish-backed fighters have been advancing in the area since last month, leading to the displacement of about 200,000 people.
There have been concerns in Christian villages about possible atrocities by Turkey-backed fighters, which include former jihadists.
The SDF said it's deploying the Syriac Military Council and Assyrian fighters in the Khabur river region. Both groups are part of the SDF.
Meanwhile, US military vehicles Saturday entered a Kurdish-held area in northeastern Syria and met with officials, AFP correspondents and a local source said, in the second such visit since an announced US pullout from the Turkish border area.
Beige-coloured armoured vehicles flying the American flag pulled up at the headquarters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces outside the city of Qamishli.
They also passed by the People's Protection Units (YPG) who have spearheaded the SDF, and Kurdish security forces in the area.
Two days earlier, a similar US convoy was seen further east along the border, outside the town of Qahtaniyah, in an area they used to operate in before Washington announced a military pullout last month.
A US-led coalition has for years backed the SDF in fighting the Islamic State group, but the announcement of an American withdrawal triggered a deadly Turkish invasion against the Kurds on October 9.
A source who took part in one of the Kurdish-US meetings on Saturday said the Americans wanted to return to Qamishli.
"They're coming to set up a major military post in Qamishli," the source told AFP.
The coalition declined to comment specifically on Saturday's visit, but said the alliance continued to withdraw forces from northern Syria.
It would relocate some troops to oil-rich eastern Syria to held stamp out remaining IS fighters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, says Washington also still has forces in a base near Rmeilan, a town further east along the border.
Under a ceasefire deal signed last week, joint Turkish-Russian patrols started on Friday in the area.
Syrian regime forces have also made a major comeback in the northeast for the first time in years, after they were called in by the Kurds to fill the void left by US troops.
Eight years of war in Syria have killed 560,000 people and driven half the pre-war population of 22 million from their homes, including more than 6 million as refugees to neighbouring countries.
(Agencies)
Zaman Al Wasl
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