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News ID: 37153
Publish Date : 24 February 2017 - 20:35
Nearly 70 People Killed Near Syria’s al-Bab:

Daesh Wreaks Havoc Where Turkey Operates



BEIRUT/ISTANBUL (Dispatches) – A Daesh car bomb killed about 70 people on Friday in a Syrian village held by Takfiris, a war monitor said, a day after the terrorist group was driven from its last stronghold in the area.
The blast in the village of Sousian hit a security checkpoint controlled by Turkish-backed militants.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor of the war based in Britain, said more than 60 people died including over 45 civilians.
A militant with the Sultan Murad Brigade near al-Bab, said: "It was done on a checkpoint but there were a lot of families there gathered and waiting to get back to al-Bab. Therefore we have many civilian casualties."
Turkey claimed to have driven Daesh from the town of al-Bab on Thursday, following weeks of street battles near where Ankara wants to establish a "safe zone”.
Turkey's military said on Friday that it had taken full control of all of al-Bab, and that work to clear mines and unexploded ordnance was under way.
Sousian is behind militant lines about 8 km (5 miles) northwest of al-Bab, around which Ankara has long supported the formation of a zone it claims would help to stem a wave of migration via Turkey into Europe.
A second blast took place 2 km south of Sousian later on Friday, but it was unclear whether it was from a vehicle bomb or a planted device such as a mine. There were reports of casualties but no immediate details, the observatory said.
Daesh said in a social media posting that it was behind the Sousian attack, having acknowledged on Thursday it had lost control of al-Bab.
Syria's main conflict pits President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, Iran and volunteer militias, against militants that include groups supported by Turkey, the United States and Persian Gulf monarchies.
As mines laid in and around al-Bab claimed lives for a second day, the Sultan Murad Brigade fighter said many Daesh cells were still operating there.
"It is very dangerous. Our search and clear operation is still under way," he said.
Two Turkish soldiers were killed on Friday while clearing mines in the town of Tadef south of al-Bab, Turkey's military said in a statement. On Thursday, several Turkey-backed militants were killed by a mine in al-Bab, the observatory said.
Turkey directly intervened in Syria in August, with support from rebel factions under the FSA banner. It also wants to stop Kurdish groups gaining control of the region.
After taking al-Bab on Thursday, Turkish forces shelled Daesh in Tadef, the observatory reported.
The area immediately to the south of Tadef is held by the Syrian army and its allies, which have in recent weeks pushed into Daesh territory in that area from Aleppo and advanced towards the Euphrates river.