- Anadolu Agency
Syria – At least seven people were killed and more than 20 people wounded in rebel-held Azaz in Syria late on Saturday in a car explosion at a crowded market.
The blast took place during peak late-night shopping hours during the daytime fasting holy month of Ramadan.
"It's timing comes with heavy congestion by shoppers," said Yaseen Shalabi, who was near the site of the explosion with his family, as quoted from DW site.
Mobil diledakkan di Suriah
- Anadolu Agency
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.
Initial casualty figures varied slightly, with between seven and eight killed and between 23 and 30 injured.
Some of the wounded were seriously hurt and were taken to nearby hospitals.
The blast caused considerable material damage and also secondary fires, officials reported.
Emergency services and investigators were on site tending to the wounded and seeking first clues by torchlight.
Azaz, a rebel-held town near the Turkish border in northwest. The Syrian town of Azaz, north of Aleppo near the border with Turkiye is not under the control of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The predominantly Arab-populated town is run by Syrian rebel groups opposed to Assad and backed by Turkey.
Azaz was hit by a car blast two years ago but has been comparatively calm since, by the standards of Syrian northern border regions during the country's civil war that started in 2011.
