Damascus: At least 15 people were killed in a car bomb in the northern Syrian city of Manbaj on Monday, the second attack in three days and the deadliest of Bashar al -Assad fell from power in December.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack in Manbaj, which is located 30 km from the Turkish border. The Civil Defense Rescue Service identified the men as 14 women and a man and said that 15 more women were injured.
The Kurdish -led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) condemned the bombing of the car, alleging that Turkish -backed factions have used such bombings and violence to intimidate local residents.
A civil defense official told Reuters that the victims were agricultural workers and the deaths are likely to increase.
During the 13 -year -old civil war in Syria, Manbaj has changed his hand several times, recently in December, when Turkish -backed groups captured him from a US -backed SDF, led by the Kurdish YPG militia.
The SDF took Manbaj from the militant Islamic State Group in 2016.
According to the Syrian State News Agency Sana, on Saturday, a car bomb in Manbaj killed four civilians and injured nine others, including children.
Assad was ousted from power on December 8 after being informed by the Hayat Tahir -ul -Sham (HTS) group, whose leader, Ahmad al -Shara, was declared the interim president of Syria last week.
