A automobile bomb killed 15 agricultural staff in northern Syria on Monday, the nation’s civil protection power mentioned, as ongoing violence threatens to undermine the brand new authorities’s push for stability.
There have been no instant claims of duty for the explosion, which befell within the metropolis of Manbij, about 20 miles from the border with Turkey. Manbij has been a focus of violence between armed teams, one backed by america and the opposite by Turkey. The blast on Monday was one of many deadliest such assaults since the autumn of Bashar al-Assad in December.
The Turkish-backed fighters wrested management of the town in December from Kurdish-led forces, who’re supported by america, and there has since been a spate of automobile bombings, in accordance with the White Helmets, the Syrian civil protection power.
The agricultural staff had been being transported behind a truck when a automobile bomb exploded alongside them on the outskirts of the town, which lies about 55 miles northeast of Aleppo, the White Helmets mentioned in a press release.
Many of the useless had been girls. No less than 15 different individuals had been wounded, and the loss of life toll was anticipated to rise, the power mentioned.
Footage from the aftermath confirmed the charred and mangled remnants of a car, and the truck carrying the employees was pierced with shrapnel.
The continued violence underscored the challenges confronted by Syria’s new interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, who’s trying to navigate a crucial juncture within the nation’s historical past.
Mr. al-Shara, who was appointed final week, has pledged to create an inclusive transitional authorities. To that finish, the brand new authorities have introduced the dissolution of all armed factions within the insurgent coalition that toppled Mr. Assad, the nation’s longtime dictator.
It stays unclear, nevertheless, whether or not armed teams which have to date refused to surrender their weapons — together with the Kurdish-led forces who management most of northeastern Syria — will ultimately settle for that mandate.
Unifying Syria’s advanced net of armed teams underneath a single umbrella, specialists say, is among the many most urgent challenges dealing with the brand new authorities.