At least one person was killed and dozens were wounded in a motorcycle explosion in the market in Azaz in the northern Aleppo countryside.
The Civil Defense Directorate in Free Aleppo Governorate announced on its Facebook page on Tuesday that a motorcycle bomb had exploded in a crowded market in central Azaz. It said that a rescue team had hurried to the site of the blast, which killed a civilian and wounded dozens.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, while the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have been blamed for similar explosions in the area for months.
Last July there were five blasts over two days in the northern and eastern Aleppo countryside in areas under the control of rebel groups, with most of the explosions using motorcycle bombs, revealing security weaknesses in the region.
At the end of July the explosions hit the cities of Azaz and al-Bab and the towns of Tel Batal and al-Ghandoura, which killed civilians.
The blasts exposed security weaknesses and a state of security collapse in the area, amid calls by residents to strengthen measures by the military police in the area and stop bombings and theft.
The spokesman for the National Army, Youssef Hamoud, told Alsouria Net that the Aleppo countryside is facing major challenges on an internal and external level. The most serious of them is that it has become a target for all the forces fighting against it and the National Army, whether that is the Syrian regime or the YPG or the Islamic State.
He added that security deficiencies have led to security breaches and a weakness in communication between rebel groups and security agencies in the area.
The National Army is working to establish a united security agency to increase the effectiveness of security operations and to begin to regulate supply lines, reinforcements and fronts by filling and reinforcing gaps, he said.
This article was translated and 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.
