A car bomb detonated at a checkpoint controlled by armed groups backed by Turkey in Tal Halaf, to the west of Sari Kani (known as Ras al-Ain in Arabic) on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Six people were killed in the blast, including guards at the checkpoint, and more than 15 military personnel and civilians were injured, according to the Observatory. Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported five civilians were killed.
Syrian state media, SANA, said the number of casualties is expected to rise because the checkpoint was busy with people preparing for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday on Friday.
Turkish forces seized Sari Kani and a 120-kilometre stretch of the border in October last year as part of Operation Peace Spring, a military offensive launched by Ankara to clear the area of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who control much of northeast Syria.
This is the fifth explosion to rock Sari Kani this week, according to the Observatory, killing and injuring about 50 people.
