Car bombs, shooting leave 13 dead in Syria
A view of the site after a bomb-laden vehicle exploded near Syrian Interim Government building and Azez Cultural Center building in Azaz district of Aleppo, Syria on Sunday. Photo: Getty
A dozen people have been killed by car bombs while another was shot dead during a pro-government demonstration in northern Syria.
State news agency SANA says four people were also injured when Kurdish security forces opened fire at demonstrators protesting a siege on their neighbourhood in Hassakeh city on Sunday.
The area is known as the security square and controlled by government forces.
Separately, two car bombs went off two hours apart in the northwestern town of Azaz and another village some 50 kilometers away.
The explosions in the areas controlled by Syrian opposition fighters allied with Turkey killed six civilians, including one child in Azaz, and six fighters at a checkpoint in a village near the town of al-Bab, first responders known as Syrian Civil Defense and opposition media reported.
Civilians carry young victims at the scene of the explosion in Azaz in the rebel-controlled northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo province. Photo: Getty
Turkey and allied Syrian fighters control large parts of northern Syria and are at odds with government forces and Kurdish-led forces who are considered terrorists by Ankara.
The opposition-controlled areas are scene of recurrent attacks rarely claimed by any one side.
The Syrian Civil Defense said it responded to 11 explosions in northwestern Syria since the start of January, before Sunday, where at least 11 people were killed.
A video of the rally in the northeastern city of Hassakeh showed dozens of men gathering in a street on a rainy day as fire rang out over their heads.
The men began chanting: “With our souls, our blood we sacrifice for you Bashar,” in reference to the Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Kurdish-run news agency Hawar said security forces at a checkpoint in the city had come under fire, prompting its members to respond to the source of fire.
The clashes led to the death of a government security member, the agency said.
The different accounts could not be immediately reconciled or verified.
The death toll from the attack continues to rise as more civilians are taken to hospitals with serious injuries. Photo: Getty
The Kurds, Syria’s largest ethnic minority, have carved out a semi-autonomous enclave in Syria’s north since the start of the civil war in 2011.
In the area, they run their own affairs and control most of the country’s oil resources.
