At least 18 people, including 14 civilians, were killed Saturday in Afrin when artillery fire hit a hospital in the area, which is controlled by guerrillas close to Turkey, the NGO said.
A doctor, three hospital staff, two women and two children, as well as a rebel commander, were among the victims of the bombing that struck Al Sifa Hospital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
In addition to the 18 dead, 23 injured have been recorded. An earlier death toll released by the NGO spoke of 16 dead.
The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a police recruiting center, killing at least 20 people and wounding several others, police said.
“The majority of the victims were lost in the bombing of the hospital,” the NGO said, adding that the death toll could rise as several of the injured are in critical condition.
Ankara condemned the attack and said it was committed by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). But the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – a Kurdish-Arab alliance in which the YPG is the main component and which is backed by the US – denied that this was their own action.
The Turkish Defense Ministry spoke earlier last night about 13 dead and 27 wounded in Afrin.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the artillery shells came from an area in the northern province of Aleppo, where “paramilitaries loyal to Iran and the regime are close to Kurdish areas.”
The Kurdish region of Afrin, in the province of Aleppo, was occupied in March 2018 by the Turkish armed forces and its Syrian aides. Ankara’s aim was to oust the YPG from the region, which it describes as a “terrorist” organization, calling it the Syrian arm of the PKK.
In this area, as in all areas controlled by the guerrillas close to Turkey, targeted killings are often committed, attacks and explosions are recorded.
In northwestern Syria on Thursday, at least 12 people, including fighters, were killed in bombings that, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, were carried out by the Syrian regime in Idlib province, the last stronghold of jihadists and rebels in Syria.
The war in Syria, which broke out in 2011 and became extremely complicated over the years with the involvement of various warring parties – jihadist organizations, guerrilla groups, separatist factions, foreign forces – has claimed the lives of about 500,000 people, according to estimates. published the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, while turning millions of others into internally displaced persons and refugees.
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