A bomb that exploded on Sunday morning in a vegetable market in a northern Syrian border city controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters killed eight people and wounded 19 others.
The explosion devastated market stalls and products scattered in the city of Ras al-Ain along the border with Turkey.
Such bombardments are common in the city, which was sustained by Kurdish forces before it was seized by Turkish troops and their Syrian representatives last October.
Syria’s state news agency SANA said the explosion was caused by a car bomb, while the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the explosion was caused by a motorcycle with explosives.
The Syrian Observatory reported that some of the wounded were in critical condition, adding that among the dead were a woman and a child.
Turkey’s defense ministry blamed the attack on Kurdish fighters.
Ankara has attributed the blasts that killed and wounded dozens of people in northeast Syria in recent months to Kurdish fighters linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has sparked a decades-long uprising in Turkey.
Turkey regards the Kurdish Syrian armed forces known as the YPG as “terrorists”, although the same fighters had partnered with the United States against ISIL (ISIS) Armed group.
“The terrorist organization PKK / YPG once again attacked innocent civilians,” the ministry said on Twitter.
Turkey controls most of the Syrian territory that borders its southern border after a series of military operations. Last October, Turkish troops crossed northeast Syria, capturing the Ras al-Ain area and driving Kurdish fighters away from the border after the United States withdrew most of its forces from the region.
During her most recent foray against the YPG last year, Ankara established a “safe zone” that stretches 120 km (70 miles) from the border and includes the city of Ras al-Ain.
The area is a frequent target for bombardment and other attacks. Last week, a car bomb killed four people and injured 10.
.
