On Wednesday, four people, including two children, were killed and 10 more were wounded in a YPG car bomb attack in the Turkish-held town of Suluk in eastern Raqqa province, activists and monitors said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the explosion was a powerful one, noting that it becomes the 21st explosion to rock areas controlled by Turkey and the Turkey-backed rebels in northern Syria since October 2019.
Car bombs have become a popular tactic of the Kurdish militias to target pro-Turkey fighters, but such a deadly tactic has claimed the lives of tens of innocent people as blasts hit marketplaces and bus terminals in the towns of al-Bab, Jarablus and Tel Abyad.
Turkey’s military took control of the Kurdish-held border areas in northern Syria immediately after US forces were withdrawn last October. Turkey has a longstanding enmity with the Kurds and wants to push back the YPG from its border.
Turkey claims the YPG is a “terrorist” offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
Turkish forces have created a 120-kilometre (75-mile) “safe zone” between Tel Abyad and the town of Ras al-Ayn, pushing the YPG out of the area.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
