Blast in Syrian town kills nearly 50

BEIRUT — A car bomb ripped through a busy commercial district in a rebel-held Syrian town along the Turkish border Saturday, killing nearly 50 in a huge explosion that damaged buildings and left rescuers scrambling to find survivors amid the wreckage, opposition activists said.

Rescuers and doctors said the explosion was so large there were nearly 100 wounded and burned. More than 50 of the wounded were transported to the Turkish border town of Kilis for treatment, as local hospitals couldn’t cope.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Locals said a rigged tanker caused the explosion and blamed Islamic State militants, who have carried out attacks in the town before. The militant group has been increasingly pressed in Syria and Iraq, and has escalated its attacks against Turkey — which backs Syrian opposition fighters in a campaign against the group in northern Syria.

Azaz, only a couple of miles from the Turkish border, is a key town on a route used by opposition fighters moving between Syria and Turkey, and is a hub for anti-government activists as well as many displaced from the recent fighting in Aleppo city. Activists say its pre-war population of 30,000 has swelled.

It is also sandwiched between rival groups, including Kurdish fighters to the west and Turkey-backed opposition groups to the east.

The bomb went off Saturday afternoon outside a local courthouse and security headquarters operated by the opposition fighters who control the town, resident and activist Saif Alnajdi told The Associated Press from Azaz.

“It hit the busiest part of the town,” Alnajdi said.

A medical worker speaking to a local media outfit, al-Jisr, said many charred bodies, and body parts mixed with bones and mud, were piled up in local hospitals.

Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, said at least 48 people were killed, including 14 fighters and guards to the local courthouse.

Footage shared online showed a large plume of black smoke rising above the chaotic street with the sound of gunfire in the background as onlookers gathered around the site.