No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, but Syrian rebels and Turkish media are blaming the Islamic State group.">
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News > World

Explosion Kills at Least 43 at Syria-Turkey Border

  • Footage shows the aftermath of the explosion in Azaz, Syria

    Footage shows the aftermath of the explosion in Azaz, Syria | Photo: AFP

Published 7 January 2017
Opinion

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, but Syrian rebels and Turkish media are blaming the Islamic State group.

A powerful explosion from a car bomb has killed at least 43 people and injured dozens more in the Syrian rebel-controlled town of Avaaz near close to the border with Turkey on Saturday.

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The fuel tanker bomb went off near a market area and government complex and the majority of victims were believed to have been civilians, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Six rebels were also believed to be among the dead.

The large blast was reportedly heard across the Turkish border in the town of Kilis and dramatic footage showed people running from the blast with burning clothes with large smoke clouds filling the streets.

At least 60 people had been killed and more than 50 wounded, according to a local doctor cited by Turkey's state-run Anadolu agency. The death toll from the explosion is expected to rise and Dogan reported that preparations were being made to receive more casualties at hospitals in Kilis. 

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While no group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, many are already blaming the Islamic State group. Turkey’s Dogan media organization said that the Islamic State group was responsible, while Syrian rebels also accused the militant group of being behind the attack.

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Azaz is a major stronghold of the Free Syrian Army, an alliance of "moderate" rebel groups which Turkey has aided with ground and air support as part of its Operation Euphrates, which aims to flush out Islamic State group forces from the Turkey-Syria border region.

The explosion comes as a nationwide cease-fire is being observed across Syria between the Syrian army and anti-government groups, the agreement which came into effect on Dec. 30, remains fragile.

 
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