A car bomb in a Syrian opposition-held town kills at least 3 people, including 2 children

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This article was published 31/03/2024 (889 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEIRUT (AP) — A car bomb exploded in a busy market in a northern Syrian town controlled by Turkey-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 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, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition war monitor, said at least eight people were killed and 23 wounded.

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

Elsewhere, Syrian state media said Israeli jets struck several locations near Damascus, wounding two civilians and causing material damage.

Citing an unnamed military source, Syrian state news agency SANA said the attacks came from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, without giving any further details.

The observatory said Israel launched four missiles in the town of Jamraya in the Damascus countryside.

There was no immediate statement from Israeli officials on the strikes.

Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in its northern neighbor, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges them.