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Agence France-Presse

A car bomb killed at least nine people including five civilians near a pro-Turkey rebel post in the northern Syrian city of Afrin on Sunday, a British-based war monitor said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not clear who was behind the blast in the city, which was seized from Kurdish forces earlier this year.
The explosion comes after the Turkish president on Wednesday threatened to launch a new offensive against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria.
The Observatory said the blast wounded dozens, and the toll was likely to rise.
“The car bomb exploded near a position of pro-Turkey fighters” in a market, killing five civilians and four fighters, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

At the site of the explosion, fresh herbs and vegetables were strewn on the ground near blackened market stalls.
Vegetable seller Abu Yazan al-Qabuni told AFP he was in the market towards midday when he saw a van enter.
“We thought it was carrying vegetables,” he said.
After a huge blast rocked the area, he ran to the site of the explosion, finding wounded people and body parts on the ground.
‘Precision strikes’ in Syria kill IS leader linked to beheading of American aid worker Peter Kassig
“I put them in a bag and buried them,” he said.
“There are no armed gangs, no terrorists here. We’re a vegetable market,” he added, indignant.
The city of Afrin was captured in March this year from the YPG by Turkish armed forces and Syrian rebels backed by Ankara.
Turkey accuses the YPG of being “terrorists”, but the Kurdish militia also forms the backbone of a US-backed alliance fighting Islamic State in Syria.
YPG forces are present in areas along the Turkish border to the east of Afrin.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was planning to launch a new offensive within the “next few days” against the YPG in northern Syria.

A day later, a Turkish soldier was killed in the Afrin region after coming under fire from the YPG, the Turkish defence ministry said.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump agreed with Erdogan on “more effective coordination” between both countries in the war-torn country.
American forces are present in an area along the Turkish border east of Afrin, as part of the US-led coalition fighting IS.
Erdogan has strongly criticised Washington’s support for the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces fighting IS in their last holdout in the far east of the country.
Syria’s war has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
It has since spiralled into a complex conflict involving jihadists and world powers.


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Syrian conflict

Car bomb kills 9 people in Syria’s Afrin, war monitor claims

A pro-Turkish Syrian fighter inspects the remains of a car that reportedly exploded in a market in the northern Syrian city of Afrin, killing and wounding several people, on December 16, 2018. Photo: AFP

Civilians and a Syrian rebel fighters gather after a car bomb reportedly exploded near a position of pro-Turkey fighters in a market in the northern Syrian city of Afrin on December 16, 2018. - A car bomb killed at least eight people including four civilians near a pro-Turkey rebel post in the northern Syrian city of Afrin, a British-based war monitor said. The explosion comes after the Turkish president threatened a few days ago to launch a new offensive against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. (Photo by Nazeer AL-KHATIB / AFP)

A Syrian rebel fighter walks amid scaterred fruits and vegetables after a car bomb reportedly exploded near a position of pro-Turkey fighters in a market in the northern Syrian city of Afrin on December 16, 2018. - A car bomb killed at least eight people including four civilians near a pro-Turkey rebel post in the northern Syrian city of Afrin, a British-based war monitor said. The explosion comes after the Turkish president threatened a few days ago to launch a new offensive against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. (Photo by Nazeer AL-KHATIB / AFP)

Pentagon warns Turkey not to launch ‘unilateral’ attack on US-backed Kurdish forces in northern Syria

Syrian Kurdish members of the People's Protection Units (YPG) attend the funeral of a slain Kurdish commander in the northeastern city of Qamishli on December 6. Turkey considers the US-backed militia a “terrorist offshoot”. Photo: AFP

(181213) -- ANKARA, Dec. 13, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during the Turkish Defense Industry Summit in Ankara, Turkey, on Dec. 12, 2018. Turkey will launch a military operation in the east of Euphrates River in Syria in a few days, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)(dh)

Syrian refugee finally leaves Malaysia after seven months stranded in the airport

Hassan al-Kontar and a supporter from Canada share a light moment after his arrival in Vancouver. Photo: AP

Hassan Al Kontar hugs Laurie Cooper after arriving at an airport in Vancouver, British Columbia, after flying from Kuala Lumpur, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. Al Kontar, a Syrian man who was stranded for seven months at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, arrived in Vancouver on Monday night. (Ben Nelms/The Canadian Press via AP)

Hassan Al Kontar meets supporters after arriving at an airport in Vancouver, British Columbia, after flying from Kuala Lumpur, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. Al Kontar, a Syrian man who was stranded for seven months at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, arrived in Vancouver on Monday night. (Ben Nelms/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Four fighters and five civilians reportedly killed, with death toll ‘likely to rise’


Car bomb kills 9 people in Syria’s Afrin, war monitor claims

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Four fighters and five civilians reportedly killed, with death toll ‘likely to rise’

Four fighters and five civilians reportedly killed, with death toll ‘likely to rise’