IS car bomb kills more than 50 in NW Syria
An Islamic State (IS) car bomb killed more than 50 people on Friday in a Syrian village held by rebels, a war monitor said, a day after the jihadist group was driven from its last stronghold in the area.
The blast in the village of Sousian hit a security checkpoint controlled by rebels fighting under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor of the war based in Britain, said more than 50 people died including over 30 civilians.
One of the two, a fighter with the Sultan Murad Brigade near al-Bab, said, “It was done on a checkpoint but there were a lot of families there gathered and waiting to get back to al-Bab. Therefore we have many civilian casualties.”
The Turkey-backed rebels drove IS from the town of al-Bab on Thursday, following weeks of street battles near where Ankara wants to establish a safe zone for civilians.
Turkey’s military said Friday that Syrian rebels had taken full control of all of al-Bab, and that work to clear mines and unexploded ordnance was under way.
Sousian is behind rebel lines about 8 kilometers northwest of al-Bab, around which Ankara has long supported the formation of a security zone it says would help to stem a wave of migration via Turkey into Europe.
A second blast took place 2 kilometers south of Sousian later on Friday, but it was unclear whether it was from a vehicle bomb or a planted device such as a mine.
There were reports of casualties but no immediate details, the Observatory said.
IS said in a social media posting that it was behind the Sousian attack, having acknowledged on Thursday it had lost control of al-Bab.
Syria’s main conflict pits President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and Shi’ite militias, against rebels that include groups supported by Turkey, the US and Gulf monarchies.
However, both those sides, as well as a group of militias led by Kurdish forces and supported by the US, are also fighting IS, which holds large parts of northern and eastern Syria.