At least 40 killed, dozens injured in terror attack in NW Syria

At least 40 civilians, including 11 children, were killed on Tuesday in a YPG/PKK terrorist attack in northwestern Syria, Turkey's Defence Ministry said.

At least 47 others were also wounded in the attack in the Afrin city centre carried out using a bomb-rigged fuel tanker, the ministry said in a tweet.

Many buildings were damaged on Raju Street where the fuel tanker exploded, and medical personnel took the wounded to hospitals in the centre of Afrin.

The US condemned the terrorist attack with State Department Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus saying in a statement, "The United States condemns the act of terror carried out today in Afrin, Syria, claiming the lives of dozens of people shopping in the central market as they prepared to break the Ramadan fast. Initial reports indicate many victims were civilians, including children."

In January 2019, Turkey launched a major military operation — Operation Olive Branch — to rid Afrin of YPG/PKK terrorist elements, and liberated Afrin that March.

Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terrorist operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable peaceful settlement of locals: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and EU — has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.