At least eight people, including three children, have been killed in two car bomb explosions in northern Syria. This is reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), an NGO based in London. The attacks have not yet been claimed.
One of the explosions hit a car repair shop in Shawa, a village near the Turkish border held by Turkish-backed fighters. According to the Observatory, five civilians, including three children, were killed and ten others injured.
In the second incident, an explosive device in a vehicle killed three Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters in the city of Manbij, the Observatory said. Manbij is a former stronghold of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS), now controlled by the SDF. The SDF is led by Kurds and backed by the US.
Kill IS leader
Earlier on Sunday, it was announced that the US carried out a drone strike in eastern Syria that killed an Islamic State (IS) leader. This was reported by US military headquarters Centcom, which focuses on the Middle East. It would be Usamah al-Muhajir, about whom the US military gave no further information.
The attack already happened on Friday, but it was only now communicated. Washington has stepped up military operations against suspected IS fighters in Syria over the past year. Several leaders were killed in the process. They had sought refuge in areas controlled by Turkish-backed rebels. Whether the car bombs are a response to the death of the IS leader is still unknown.
The conflict in Syria, involving multiple powers and jihadist groups, has claimed nearly half a million lives since 2011. The bloody civil war began after the regime of Bashar al-Assad violently tried to suppress demonstrations. Assad was eventually able to hold his own with military support from Russia and Iran.
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