12 killed in car bombs in Azaz, Al-Bab

Two car bombs went off two hours apart in the northwestern town of Azaz and another village some 50 kilometers (30 miles) away.

The explosions in the areas controlled by Syrian opposition fighters allied with Turkey killed six civilians, including one child in Azaz, and six fighters at a checkpoint in a village near the town of al-Bab, first responders known as Syrian Civil Defense and opposition media reported.

Turkey and allied Syrian fighters control large parts of northern Syria, and are at odds with regime forces and Kurdish-led forces, who are considered terrorists by Ankara. The opposition-controlled areas are scene of recurrent attacks that are rarely claimed by any one side.

The Syrian Civil Defense said it responded to 11 explosions in northwestern Syria since the start of January, before Sunday, where at least 11 people were killed.

Car bombs have become the new attack tactic by Kurdish militias to target pro-Turkey fighters but this deadly tactic has claimed the lives of tens of people as blasts hit marketplaces and bus terminals in the Turkish-held areas in northern Syria.

Ankara regards the YPG as a “terrorist” group tied to the outlawed armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) group inside its own borders, and has staged multiple incursions into Syria in collaboration with Syrian rebels it backs to push YPG and ISIL (ISIS) fighters from the Turkish frontier.

Ankara now retains a large military presence in the area, deploying thousands of troops in the last rebel enclave in Syria.

Also in northern Syria, one civilian was killed on Sunday and four injured after Kurdish security forces opened fire at pro-regime demonstrators in a northeastern city, state media said.

The state news agency SANA said the Kurdish forces opened fire at demonstrators protesting the siege on their neighborhood in Hassakeh city. The area is known as the security square and is controlled by regime forces.

A video of the rally showed dozens of men gathering in a street on a rainy day as fire rang out over their heads. The men began chanting: “With our souls, our blood we sacrifice for you Bashar,” in reference to Bashar Assad.

A Kurdish-run news agency, Hawar, said security forces at a checkpoint in the city had come under fire, prompting its members to respond to the source of fire. The clashes led to the death of a government security member, the agency said.

The different accounts could not be immediately reconciled or independently verified in the city where both security forces have presence.

The Kurds, Syria’s largest ethnic minority, have carved out a semi-autonomous enclave in Syria’s north since the start of the civil war in 2011. In the area, they run their own affairs and control most of the country's oil resources.

Zaman Al Wasl, Agencies