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How car bombs are making their way into northern Syria

As local councils in northern Syria, which is under the control of Turkish-backed rebels, fail to make car dealers obtain licenses and register their offices, chaos prevails in the car market, as car bombs and explosions claim the lives of dozens of civilians.
Destroyed vehicles are seen at the scene of a car bomb in the Turkish-controlled town of al-Bab in the north of Syria's Aleppo province on November 24, 2020. - The explosion, which targeted a police station on the outskirts of the town, killed a police chief from another station, two policemen and two civilians, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP) (Photo by BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images)
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ALEPPO, Syria — One could say that all Syrian cities and towns are unsafe, but the northern and eastern countryside of Aleppo, in addition to the north of Raqqa governorate and parts of the northwestern countryside of Hasakah governorate, which are under the control of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), are relatively safer. No bombings or raids by the Syrian regime and its allies are carried out there, unlike in Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo. However, being relatively the safest does not necessarily mean safe; northern Syria faces the danger of rigged cars and motorcycles.

The areas under the control of the Turkish-backed FSA became safer after Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield on Aug. 24, 2016, and following the formation of the FSA's National Army in late 2017. Safety was reinforced in January 2018 with Operation Olive Branch. However, as soon as the Turkish army announced Operation Peace Spring in October 2019, a wave of explosions hit the area, targeting densely populated neighborhoods and popular markets, as well as leading military and revolutionary figures in the area.

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