ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A vehicle exploded in the Kurdish city of Afrin in northwestern Syria on Wednesday morning, eyewitnesses have told Rudaw, with a conflict monitor reporting multiple casualties.
The vehicle exploded near a restaurant on Rajo Road in Afrin city around 10 am on Wednesday, a source told Rudaw on the condition of anonymity.
The eyewitnesses also said there were an unspecified number of people dead and injured because of the blast. Rudaw could not independently confirm the reported deaths.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based war monitor, reported two people were killed and there was material damage.
No side immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.
On August 7, at least 10 people were killed, and 13 others were injured when a truck rigged with an explosive blew up in Azaz, a city also near Afrin.
Afrin is a Kurdish city that was taken over by Turkey and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in a military operation against Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in 2018.
The dominant Kurdish force in northern Syria has been the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that includes the YPG and other components. More recently, the US-backed SDF has been engaged in clashes against Iran-backed pro-regime forces in Deir ez-Zor.
Syrians rose against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in 2011, leading to a full-scale civil war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and has left millions more in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
The United Nations called for all parties in Syria to come together and find a resolution to Syria’s 13-year-long civil war.
