Syria: Car Bomb In North Kills At Least 13
By RFE RL
(RFE/RL) — At least 13 civilians were killed when a car bomb exploded in a northern Syrian town close to the country’s border with Turkey on November 2, Turkish officials said.
At least 20 people were injured in the blast, which occurred near a market in the northeastern town of Tal Ayab.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 14 people were killed and that some of the victims were Turkish-backed militiamen.
The Turkish Defense Ministry blamed the attack on the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Ankara has labeled a “terrorist” branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
As part of a deal struck on October 17 between Turkey and the United States, a 120-kilometer “safe zone” was established between the towns of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, and the YPG was obligated to withdraw from the area.
On November 1, Turkey and Russia began joint military patrols to monitor the withdrawal and enforce the “safe zone.”
