BEIRUT — At least 20 people, most of them women, have been killed in a car bomb blast in Manbij in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian Television reported on Monday.
A further 12 were injured, some of them children, the U.K.-based war monitor said.
The blast occurred in the south of Manbij, a region controlled by pro-Turkish militias, the observatory reported further.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blast in the contested city, which lies about 35 kilometres south of the border with Turkey.
The U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) condemned what they described as “a terrorist bombing” that took place in Manbij on Monday morning.
The SDF accused accused Turkish-backed mercenary factions of carrying out such attacks.
“This is a consistent strategy employed by these factions to terrorize the population and prevent them from protesting against the dire conditions in Manbij, including theft, looting and assaults perpetrated by members of these factions,” the SDF added in their statement.
The observatory has reported a series of fatal car bomb attacks in areas controlled by pro-Turkish militias in the region over recent weeks.
