Car bomb in Afrin responsible for 10 fatalities

Afrin market moments after the explosion Afrin market moments after the explosion Syrian Network for Human Rights

16 September 2020
An explosive-laden truck exploded near a central market in Afrin, Syria, killing 10 passers-by.

On 14 September 2020 at least ten people were killed by an explosion caused by an explosives-laden truck in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, a city in the Aleppo region of Syria. The vehicle exploded once again nearby the crowded Afrin marketplace within walking distance of the headquarters of a Turkish-backed armed group. Earlier in the year, in April, a fuel tanker rigged with a hand grenade had exploded in the same place, killing 40 people according to Turkey.

Local sources revealed to the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) that the 14th September attempt was perpetrated by terrorists affiliated to the People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). However, no military group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a child was among the victims, adding that the blast wounded more than 40 passers-by, some seriously. Syria, ravaged by a ten-year long conflict, is not new to explosive violence.

The Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), one of world’s leading research charities on the harm wrought by explosive weapons, found that Syria was the country worst impacted by explosive weapons in March, with explosions leading to 217 civilian casualties. Compared with the same period in 2019 when casualties amounted to 608, AOAV finds that explosive violence in Syria has been scaled down.

However, their relative size on casualties is on the rise, given that in April 77% of civilian casualties were due to manufactured explosive weapons. AOAV indicates Aleppo and Idlib as the most impacted from explosive violence. Indeed, 77% of civilian casualties from the use of explosive weapons in Syria occurred in the provinces of Idlib (with 91 civilian casualties) or Aleppo (with 77 civilian casualties).

 

To know more, please visit:

https://aoav.org.uk/acting-on-weapons/key-work/

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/14092020

https://aoav.org.uk/2020/at-least-10-people-killed-in-car-bomb-in-afrin-syria/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-52454134

 

Autore: Gianmarco Italia; Editor: Barbara Caltabiano

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