Syria | At least 46 people were killed in a tanker explosion

Defence Redefined

Published on 30/04/2020 at 11:55

At least 46 people, including civilians, were killed and at least 50 others were injured during the attack that took place on Tuesday April 28 at a market in Afrin according to a recent report by the non-governmental organization Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. We recall that Afrin is held by the Turkish army and Syrian opposition fighters who have allied with it.

The London-based NGO says that at least 36 people have been killed, whereas the Turkish Army spoke about 40.

Among the victims were six Syrian fighters adjacent to Ankara and 11 children, according to the same source. The death toll may be heavier because several injured are in “critical” condition, noted Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

There has been no assumption of responsibility for the action.

Turkey’s Defence Ministry says it was an attack by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortegaus described such “cowardly” actions as “unacceptable”, “no matter where they come from” in the ongoing war in Syria.

The Kurdish region of Afrin, in Aleppo province, was occupied in March 2018 by the Turkish army and its Syrian opposition who drove the YPG out of the area.

Half of the 320,000 Kurdish residents left their homes when the Turkish army and Syrian opposition rebels attacked. Most of them never returned.

In this region, thousands of civilians were forced to leave areas of dissidents who recaptured the forces of Damascus.

According to the UN and Amnesty International, forced expropriations and heaps of violations and atrocities have been recorded in the pocket, especially by Turkey’s pro-Syrian opposition allies.

 

Source: ANA MNA