A wounded man evacuated to Afrin (Syria), in March 2018 (photo of illustration) - EMILIE BUZYN / SIPA

More than 40 people, civilians and combatants, were killed on Tuesday in a tank truck bombing perpetrated on a market in Afine, a town in northern Syria held by the Turkish army and Syrian auxiliary forces, according to a new balance sheet. The explosion of the fuel truck, on which a bomb was placed, killed "at least 46 people, including civilians, and injured 50 others," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). . He had previously reported at least 36 dead.

New explosion in #Afrine in the Kurdish zone after a first explosion which left 42 dead pic.twitter.com/PmXDCIrMgJ

- Defint (@Defsaintx) April 28, 2020

At least six Syrian fighters allied in Ankara are among the dead, the NGO said. She counted 11 children among the victims. The attack, which has not been claimed, is the deadliest for months in the northern territories of the country held by the Syrian deputies of Ankara. These areas are regularly shaken by similar attacks or targeted assassinations.

Many "critical cases"

The assessment could be revised upwards because there are many "critical cases" among the injured, said the director of the OSDH, Rami Abdel Rahmane. Providing a higher death toll, the Turkish Defense Ministry attributed the attack to the Kurdish militia of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and their allies.

"Such cowardly and evil acts are unacceptable, from any camp in this conflict," commented the spokesperson for the US State Department, Morgan Ortagus. Located in the province of Aleppo, the Kurdish region of Afrin was conquered in March 2018 by Turkish forces and their Syrian auxiliaries, who had dislodged the YPG from them.

380,000 deaths since 2011

Half of the 320,000 residents of the Afrin enclave fled their homes during the offensive, according to the UN, and the majority never returned. Today, the region hosts thousands of civilians who were settled there after being forced to abandon former rebel strongholds recaptured by the Damascus regime.

According to the UN and Amnesty International, expropriations and other abuses are committed in the enclave, in particular by the Syrian deputies. In January, at least seven people were killed in the explosion of a car bomb in Azaz, a city in the province of Aleppo held by Syrian Protestant forces, according to the OSDH. The war in Syria started in 2011 has become more complex over the years, involving foreign powers. The conflict has already killed more than 380,000 people.

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