At least seven people were killed and sixty injured Sunday in an attack in northern Syria on a road leading to the Bab al-Salam crossing at the Turkish border, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (OSDH).
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The attack took place in the province of Aleppo, in a sector held by the Turkish army and Syrian auxiliary forces. These areas are regularly shaken by attacks or targeted assassinations, against a backdrop of internal disputes, according to the OSDH. " A car bomb exploded on a roundabout leading to the entrance to the Bab al-Salam border crossing ," observatory director Rami Abdel Rahmane told AFP. " Seven people were killed, including five civilians, and more than sixty injured, including women and children ."
The Bab al-Salam border crossing was one of the entry points for UN cross-border humanitarian aid to northern Syria. It was removed in July from the UN system, as wanted by Russia, which used its veto at the Security Council.
YPG or Daesh?
The Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported the explosion of a car bomb that left five dead and 85 injured in the Azaz district, accusing the Kurdish militia of the People's Protection Units (YPG). The OSDH is pointing the finger at the Islamic State (IS) group, the Turkish forces and the Syrian auxiliaries who have intensified their operations in recent weeks against the cells of the jihadist organization.
In April, more than 40 people were killed, according to the OSDH, in a tank truck bombing attack on a market in Afrin, a town held by the Protestant forces in the Aleppo region. Triggered in 2011, the war in Syria has become more complex over the years, with the involvement of foreign powers and the appearance of jihadist groups. The conflict has left more than 380,000 people dead and millions of people on the road to exile.