Syria vows 'punishment' for car bomb that killed 20

DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — A car bomb killed 20 people in northern Syria on Monday, authorities said, vowing to punish those behind the attack in an area where Kurdish-led forces and Turkish-backed factions have clashed for weeks.

The second such attack within days in Manbij comes amid talks between Syria’s new authorities, which are close to Ankara, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces over the group’s future.

“A treacherous terrorist bombing targeted civilians in Manbij city, killing 20 people,” the Syrian presidency said in a statement, following a preliminary death toll of 15 from rescuers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which the Syrian Democratic Forces has also condemned, and the presidency statement did not say who may be behind it.

“This crime will not pass without imposing the most severe of punishments on those responsible,” said the statement, vowing “to pursue and hold accountable” those involved.

The fighting in the Manbij area has raged despite efforts from Syrian Democratic Forces backer the United States to broker a ceasefire.

Turkey, which opposes the Syrian Democratic Forces, is due to host Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Tuesday for his second international visit since Bashar al-Assad’s toppling on Dec. 8.

Turkish-backed factions launched attacks on Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria, seizing the strategic Tal Rifaat and Manbij pockets at around the same time as the Islamist-led offensive that overthrew Assad.

Syrian Democratic Forces leader Mazloum Abdi condemned the Monday attack in a post on X, saying that “those responsible must be held accountable.”

White Helmets rescuers earlier said women and children were among those killed in the Manbij car bombing that targeted agricultural workers on the city’s outskirts.

The rescuers published footage from the area online, showing first responders carrying people on stretchers as well as the wreckage of a vehicle by the side of the road.

On Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said a car bomb in Manbij killed at least nine people including pro-Turkey fighters.

Turkey talks

President Sharaa’s visit to Turkey follows a trip to Saudi Arabia, where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as war-ravaged Syria seeks reconstruction funds from wealthy Gulf countries.

In Turkey, Sharaa is set to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss “joint steps to be taken for economic recovery, sustainable stability and security,” Fahrettin Altun, head of communications at the presidency, said on X.

Turkey has threatened a military operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces unless they accepted Ankara’s conditions for a “bloodless” transition after Assad’s fall.

Last month, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said after talks in Ankara that his country will never allow its territory to be used as a staging ground for threats against Turkey.

Turkey has mounted multiple operations against the Syrian Democratic Forces since 2016, and Erdogan had repeatedly threatened to seize Kurdish-held areas in the north like Manbij.

Syria’s new rulers have called on the Syrian Democratic Forces to hand over their weapons and integrate into the national army like other armed groups, rejecting demands for any kind of Kurdish self-rule.

The Syrian Democratic Forces spearheaded the military campaign that ousted the Islamic State jihadist group from Syria in 2019.

The Kurdish-led force controls much of the oil-producing northeast, where it has enjoyed de facto autonomy for more than a decade.

But Turkey accuses its main component, the People’s Protection Units, of being affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

Both Turkey and the United States have designated the PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil, as a terrorist group.

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By TONY GAMAL-GABRIEL with KARIM ABOU MERHI in Beirut, Agence France-Presse