At least seven people they were killed from a car bomb that exploded in the central market of the Syrian city of Azaz, near the border with Turkey. Many other people were injured, but it is not yet clear how many. The first footage after the explosion shows several bodies lying on the ground, damaged buildings and the remains of a burning car. It is not known who carried out the attack in the city and so far no group has claimed responsibility.
According to what was reported by the White Helmets, an organization of volunteer rescuers that has been operating in Syria for years, two children are among the dead.
Azaz is controlled by pro-Turkish militias fighting Syrian President Bashar al Assad in the country’s long-running civil war. The city is considered strategic in the context of the war due to its proximity to the Turkish border. The Syrian provisional government, an opposition group that claims to be the country’s legitimate authority, is based in Azaz. Bombs targeting crowded civilian areas are not uncommon in this region: in Azaz the last major such attack was in 2017, when 48 people were killed by a car bomb that exploded in the city’s courthouse. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. In 2019 a car bomb killed 22 people, including five children, in another market in the city.