BEIRUT – At least nine people were killed and dozens were injured in a rocket attack on a crowded market in a town held by Turkey-backed opposition fighters in northern Syria on Friday, according to an opposition war monitor and a paramedic group.
The town of Al-Bab was attacked just days after a Turkish airstrike killed at least 11 Syrian troops and US-backed Kurdish fighters. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, blamed the shelling on Syrian government forces, claiming it was in retaliation for the Turkish airstrike.
According to the Observatory, at least ten people were killed and more than 30 were injured in the attack.
According to the opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, nine people, including children, were killed and 28 were injured.
According to the paramedic group, its members evacuated some of the injured and dead bodies.
Disagreements in casualty figures immediately following attacks are common in Syria.
Since 2016, Turkey has launched three major cross-border operations into Syria and controls some territory in the north.
Although fighting has subsided in recent years, shelling and airstrikes are still common in northern Syria, which is home to the country’s last major rebel stronghold.
Syria’s conflict, which began in March 2011, has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half of the country’s 23 million people.
President Bashar Assad’s forces now control the majority of Syria, with the assistance of Russia and Iran.
Source: AP