Afrin market blast kills 46, including 40 civilians (11 children)
Turkey’s Defence Ministry blamed the Kurdish YPG militia for the explosion, which the latter deny. The attack took place near government buildings, in a city market crowded with shoppers stocking up for the Iftar, the evening meal that breaks the Ramadan fasting.
Damascus (AsiaNews/Agencies) – At least 40 civilians, including 11 children, and six Syrian Arab fighters allied to Turkey were killed in an attack on Tuesday in Afrin, north-eastern Syria, an area long disputed between Kurds and Turks, currently under Turkish control.
The Turkish Defence Ministry blamed the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG) militia, which it considers affiliated with the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), an organisation it labelled as “terrorist”. However, there is no conclusive evidence about who the authors of the attack are.
In a statement, Turkey said the blast occurred in a crowded area in Afrin. A video shared by the Defence Ministry shows black smoke billowing in the air whilst ambulance and police sirens wail in the background.
The governor of the neighbouring Turkish border province of Hatay said that a fuel tanker rigged with a hand grenade exploded at an open-air market in the central Souk Ali area of Afrin, close to local government's offices.
At the time, the market was full of shoppers stocking up for the Iftar, the meal with which Muslims break their fast during Ramadan.
In March 2018, the Turkish military seized Afrin and much of north-eastern Syria from Kurdish control in order to create a strategic buffer zone on the border. Since then the area has been run by the Turkish army and its Syrian allies.
The conflict has triggered violence that has also affected Christians, who have been the victims, like the Kurds, of "soft” ethnic cleansing.
Yesterday’s attack is among the region’s bloodiest. As usual, Turkey blamed it on Kurdish separatists. For its part, the YPG said that it never targets civilians.
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