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POST TIME: 17 December, 2018 00:00 00 AM
Car bomb kills 8 in Syria’s Afrin: Monitor
AFP, BEIRUT

Car bomb kills 8 in Syria’s Afrin: Monitor

This picture shows US army vehicles supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Hajin, in the Deir Ezzor province, eastern Syria on Saturday. Kurdish-led forces seized the Islamic State's main hub of Hajin on Friday, a milestone in a massive and costly US-backed operation to eradicate the jihadists from eastern Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces secured Hajin, the largest settlement in what is the last pocket of territory controlled by IS, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. AFP PHOTO

A car bomb killed at least eight people including four civilians near a pro-Turkey rebel post in the northern Syrian city of Afrin yesterday, a British-based war monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not clear who was behind the blast in the city, which was seized from Kurdish forces earlier this year. The explosion comes after the Turkish president on Wednesday threatened to launch a new offensive against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria.

The Observatory said the car bombing wounded dozens, and the toll was likely to rise.

“The car bomb exploded near a position of pro-Turkey fighters” in a market, killing four civilians and four fighters, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said. The city of Afrin was captured in March this year from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) by Turkish armed forces and Syrian rebels supported by Ankara.