At least 13 people were killed after a car bomb blast on Saturday, November 02, in the northern Syrian border town of Tal Abyad. Turkey’s defence ministry said at least 20 others were left wounded by the blast.
Pro-Turkey fighters and civilians were among the dead, said UK-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, claiming more than 30 people were also injured in the blast.
The rights group said Turkey’s defence ministry accused a Syrian Kurdish militia group, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), of planting the bomb. No group has claimed responsibility.
Turkish troops and Turkey-backed rebels last month took control of Tal Abyad and other border towns from Kurdish forces, after US troops – who were protecting the Kurds – pulled out.
Turkey’s military invaded the Kurdish-held border areas in northern Syria immediately after US forces were withdrawn. Turkey has a longstanding enmity with the Kurds and wants to push back the YPG from its border.
Turkey claims the YPG is a “terrorist” offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
Turkish forces have created a 120-kilometre (75-mile) “safe zone” between Tal Abyad and the town of Ras al-Ain, pushing the YPG out of the area. Turkish troops on Friday began joint patrols with Russian forces. (Source: BBC)