Skip to main content

Syrian Kurdish groups deny responsibility for bloody Afrin bombing

A truck explosion led to more than 50 deaths Tuesday in Turkish-controlled Afrin, Syria.

AFRIN, SYRIA - APRIL 28: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY √¢ MANDATORY CREDIT - "SYRIAN CIVIL DEFENSE (WHITE HELMETS) / HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Civil defense members try to extinguish fire after an attack carried out by PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, and Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey regards as a terror group, in northwestern Syria's Afrin on April 28, 2020. At least 40 civilians, including 11 chil
Civil defense members work to extinguish a fire after a truck bombing in Afrin, Syria, on April 28, 2020. — Photo by White Helmets / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Syrian Kurdish groups have condemned Tuesday's bombing in Turkish-controlled Afrin and denied responsibility after Turkey accused them of carrying out the attack that killed more than 50 people.

Mazlum Kobane, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), called the event a “terrorist act” and blamed Turkish-backed forces for it.

“What happened in Afrin yesterday was a condemnable terrorist act resulting in the loss of innocent lives,” Kobane posted in Arabic on Twitter today. “This criminal act is the result of the policy of destruction carried out by the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries.”

On Tuesday, an explosives-laden fuel truck blew up in Afrin in northern Syria, leading to at least 52 deaths, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. There were fighters, as well as civilians and children, among the dead, the observatory said. The blast caused a massive fire in the area of the explosion that engulfed nearby vehicles and structures.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Continue reading this exclusive analysis

Original reporting and analysis unavailable elsewhere. Subscribe to AL-MONITOR to read this story and access everything we publish