DAMASCUS (AP) – Another car bomb exploded on the outskirts of a city in northern Syria, killing at least 19 people and leaving over a dozen wounded, hospital workers and emergency responders said.
Eighteen women and one man were killed, a nurse at the local hospital, Mohammad Ahmad, told The Associated Press. Another 15 women were wounded, some in critical condition, according to the local civil defence.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast that occurred next to a vehicle carrying agricultural workers on the outskirts of Manbij.
It was the seventh car bombing in Manbij in over a month, said the deputy director of civil defence Munir Mustafa, warning that the attacks near Syria’s second city are a threat to Syria’s efforts to bring about post-war security and economic recovery.
Manbij in northeastern Aleppo province continues to see violence two months after the fall of President Bashar Assad in an insurgent offensive. The Syrian National Army have clashed with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The factions took the city from the SDF in early December during the insurgency.
Not long after accusations against the SDF surfaced on social media, the SDF in a statement condemned the attack and accused of some groups of possibly being involved with the aim of causing more strife in Syria. The statement said the SDF will communicate with Syria’s new interim government in Damascus to investigate. In a statement, Syria’s presidency said that “the perpetrators will face the harshest penalties to serve as a lesson to anyone who dares to threaten Syria’s security or harm its people.” Another car bombing in Manbij on Saturday killed four civilians and wounded nine, state news agency SANA reported, citing civil defence officials.
The attacks have forced residents to become more vigilant, one said. “There are efforts from the people of Manbij to focus on protecting some neighbourhoods as well as setting up surveillance cameras in the main neighbourhoods,” said an activist and journalist Jameel al-Sayyed.
