People gather at the site of a deadly car bombing in Tel Abyad in northern Syria, November 23, 2019
At least 10 people have been killed and 25 wounded by a vehicle bomb in Turkish-controlled Tel Abyad in northern Syria, the third deadly attack in the town in three weeks.
The detonation damaged a main street. Reports said four civilians from the same family were among the victims.
On November 2, at least 13 people were killed and 30 injured by a “bomb-laden vehicle” in a town market. Eight days later, at least 8 people were slain.
See Syria Daily, Nov 11: 7 Killed in Russia-Regime Bombing of Idlib; 8 Slain by Attack in Turkish-Held Town
Syria Daily, Nov 3: Deadly Car Bomb in Border Town Taken By Turkey From Kurdish Militia
As with the previous two bombings, Turkey and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces blamed each other.
The Turkish Defense Ministry accused the Kurdish militia YPG, but Mustafa Bali, the head of SDF’s media office, wrote on Twitter:
After expelling majority of Kurds, looting almost all the shops and houses in this Kurdish district of Tel Abyad, Turkish-backed mercenaries are now attempting to displace the remaining Kurdish population from their homes by random explosions in civilian areas. pic.twitter.com/k8gppJPCJx
— Mustafa Bali (@mustefabali) November 23, 2019
Tel Abyad was seized from the Syrian Democratic Forces by Turkish forces and anti-Assad fighters in a cross-border offensive which began October 9.
The occupation was consolidated on October 22 by an agreement between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, declaring military oversight over a zone crossing the Kurdish cantons of Kobani and Cezire.
The 10-point declaration called for the withdrawal of the Kurdish militia YPG, which Ankara considers part of the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK.
The YPG is the leading element in the Syrian Democratic Forces, created by the US in October 2015 to remove the Islamic State from northeast Syria. But on October 6, in a phone call with Erdoğan, Donald Trump accepted the offensive and ordered the withdrawal of US forces.
Map: Middle East Eye
