Explosion rocks Syrian Kurdish city of Afrin, 3 rebels killed

A car bomb exploded early on Wednesday in front of the Turkish-backed Islamist Syrian rebel group Ahrar al-Sharqiya’s headquarters in Afrin.

The incident resulted in deaths and injuries among members of the militia group, a source at the site of the bombing told Kurdistan 24. They could not confirm numbers, but Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported that three members of the group had been killed.

According to the local news agency, armed personnel along with emergency medical vehicles surrounded the area.

Afrin has been under the control of Ankara-backed rebels since March 2018, after driving out the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), who lead the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), from the area. Since then, the city has witnessed increased violence and insurgency attacks.

On Sunday, a blast targeted a local bus near the Kawa cross-road in the city, with initial reports indicating that three people had been killed while twelve others were injured. It was not immediately clear whether it was a suicide attack or an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) previously left at the location.

In mid-December, another car bomb explosion occurred in the center of the al-Hal market, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens more, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Source: Explosion rocks Syrian Kurdish city of Afrin, 3 rebels killed: Reports