Car Bomb in Syrian Opposition-Held Town Kills at Least 3 People, Including Two Children

People gather around an ambulance at the scene of a bomb explosion in the norther Syrian city of Azaz, early on March 31, 2024. (AFP)
People gather around an ambulance at the scene of a bomb explosion in the norther Syrian city of Azaz, early on March 31, 2024. (AFP)
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Car Bomb in Syrian Opposition-Held Town Kills at Least 3 People, Including Two Children

People gather around an ambulance at the scene of a bomb explosion in the norther Syrian city of Azaz, early on March 31, 2024. (AFP)
People gather around an ambulance at the scene of a bomb explosion in the norther Syrian city of Azaz, early on March 31, 2024. (AFP)

A car bomb exploded in a busy market in a northern Syrian town controlled by Türkiye-based Syrian opposition fighters early Sunday, killing at least three people, rescue workers and a war monitor said.

The bomb exploded in the town of Aziz in Aleppo province. Volunteers with the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, said the blast, just after midnight, killed two children and a woman.

The explosion that tore through the busy market also wounded five civilians and destroyed shops and homes in the area, the paramedic group said. First responders struggled to break through the large panicking crowds in the market, searching for casualties, clearing the wreckage, and putting out fires.

No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least eight people were killed and 23 wounded.

Türkiye has launched three major cross-border operations in Syria since 2016 and controls some Syrian territory in the north.



Palestinian Health Ministry Says One Dead in Israel West Bank Raid

Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)
Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)
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Palestinian Health Ministry Says One Dead in Israel West Bank Raid

Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)
Demonstrators clash with Palestinian security forces in Nablus in the West Bank (File photo/Reuters)

The health ministry in the occupied West Bank said one person was killed and nine injured in an Israeli raid on a refugee camp, with the Israeli military saying Saturday it had opened fire at "terrorists".

An 18-year-old man, Muhammad Medhat Amin Amer, "was killed by bullets from the (Israeli) occupation in the Balata camp" in the territory's north, the Palestinian health ministry said in a late-night statement, adding that nine people were injured, "four of whom are in critical condition".

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, the raid began on Friday night and triggered violent clashes, AFP reported.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli troops entered the camp from the Awarta checkpoint and "deployed snipers on the rooftops of surrounding buildings".

In a statement on Saturday, the Israeli military said that during the "counterterrorism" operation, "terrorists placed explosives in the area in order to harm (military) soldiers, hurled explosives, molotov cocktails, and rocks and shot fireworks at the forces".

"The forces fired toward the terrorists in order to remove the threat. Hits were identified," the statement said.

Violence in the West Bank has intensified since war broke out in the Gaza Strip after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Since then, at least 815 Palestinians have been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah.

In the same period, Palestinian attacks in the West Bank have killed at least 25 Israelis, according to official Israeli figures.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since conquering it in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.