7 killed, 30 injured in car blast in Syrian town near Turkish border

Amman, March 31

At least seven people were killed and thirty injured on Saturday in a car blast at a busy market place in the rebel-held Syrian town Azaz near the Turkish border, residents and rescuers told Reuters.

They said the blast occurred during peak late-night shopping after breaking of the fast during the Muslim month of Ramadan.

“It’s timing comes with heavy congestion by shoppers,” said Yaseen Shalabi who was near the site of the explosion shopping with his family.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The Arab-populated town run by Syrian rebel groups backed by Turkey opposed to Syrian President Bashar al Assad has been relatively quiet since it was hit by a car blast over two years ago.

Main towns in the northwestern border area have in recent years been frequently hit by bombings detonated in crowded civilian areas.

The civil defence forces said that at least thirty were wounded with some seriously injured transferred to local hospitals.

Residents and rebels in the mainly Arab-populated rebel-held northwest have long suspected the Kurdish led YPG who control large swathes of areas in northeast Syria and east of the Euphrates in northern Syria. Others blame groups loyal to Assad.

The YPG have long denied such claims. Reuters