At least 60 people were killed in a bomb blast in a rebel-held Syrian town along the Turkish border on Saturday, January 7. The death toll is expected to rise. It is claimed to be the biggest terrorist attack since a nationwide ceasefire was brokered by Russia and Turkey. However, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Local media claimed that the explosion was reported outside a courthouse and security headquarters in the town of Azaz in the northern province of Aleppo. Azaz was recently targeted by the Islamic State and is just 7km away from the Turkish frontier.
Several videos from the area shared on social media showed people running from the blast site, some holding small children, as black smoke and the din of car alarms filled the air. A local resident told CNN that the explosion occurred around 11.40 am, and that it was caused by a truck bomb. "My house is near the explosion area, and the sound of the blast was so huge," said Rahhal.
Turkey's Dogan news agency also reported that a car bomb planted by Islamic State was responsible. Azaz was held by Islamic State militants for six months in 2013, and the group has been blamed for several attacks in the area since it was pushed out by a rebel offensive.
Car bomb blast in #Azaz,#Syria,killed at least 60 people and 50 people got wounded. pic.twitter.com/Wi7kpIeEu3
— Maurice Schleepen (@MauriceSchleepe) January 7, 2017
Saturday's explosion was also heard across the border in the Turkish town of Kilis. Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, also said that the explosion was caused by a rigged water or fuel tanker, ABC reported.
Syria's nearly six-year war has created a patchwork of areas of control across the country, and Azaz is a major stronghold of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA). They are involved in a major operation aimed at clearing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group from the border region.
