ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An explosion in Syria’s northwestern Aleppo killed at least eight people and wounded over 23 others, a war monitor reported on Sunday.
The blast occurred early Sunday in the center of a local market in the city of Azaz, 20 kilometers northwest of Aleppo, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The city is under the control of Turkey-backed factions.
The market was busy with customers as is the norm in the evenings during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan.
The rights watchdog stressed that the casualty toll is yet to be finalized, as the explosion also resulted in great material damage.
During the Arab Spring protests in 2011, Syrians rose up against the country’s longtime President Bashar al-Assad. Protests soon turned violent, leading to a full-scale civil war that has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands and left millions in need of humanitarian aid.
Turkey, with the support of its Syrian mercenaries, controls northwest Syria and it has in recent years invaded two Kurdish towns in northern Syria.
Azaz is a strategic city due to its proximity to the Turkish border, making it a key supply route.
No group claimed responsibility for the blast.
The Syrian government has repeatedly called for the withdrawal of Turkish forces from the country, accusing Ankara of supporting “terrorism” in reference to rebels.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) in late February accused Ankara of being responsible for an array of “serious abuses and potential war crimes” committed by Turkish forces and proxy militias in areas it occupies in northern Syria.