Rebel group decries Syria blast, seeks international probe

BEIRUT (AP) — A major Syrian rebel group says many of its members were killed in a blast that hit an evacuation gathering point of government supporters, saying it will cooperate with an international probe to determine the culprits.

Ahrar al-Sham group is the main negotiator with the government and its allies of the widely criticized evacuation deal that transferred thousands of government and opposition supporters from four besieged areas.

They were being evacuated as part of a population transfer that had stalled as government representatives bickered with rebels. The two sides disagreed on the number of fighters to be evacuated from the four areas.

The group says in a statement Saturday it condemns the “cowardly” attack, which also killed many government supporters, as they waited in a rebel-held area for the evacuation to be completed.

The Syrian Civil Defense in Aleppo province, also known as the White Helmets, says its volunteers were able to remove at least 100 people were killed from opposition and government supporters.

Ahrar al-Sham says the attack only serves to defame the rebels and serve to deflect from the government’s “crimes” against opposition-held areas, the latest being the chemical attack where over 80 people were killed.

The group says it is starting a probe into the cause of the attack, and said it is ready to cooperate with an international investigation to determine who carried it out.

In footage aired on Syrian TV, bodies were strewn outside buses, including fighters. Some buses were charred and other gutted from the explosion.