REUTERS-A fuel truck
exploded in the busy center of a rebel-held town near Syria's border with
Turkey on Saturday, killing dozens of people and wounding dozens more,
several
sources said.
The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said at least 43 people, mostly civilians, were
killed when the tanker blew up in front of a courthouse in the northern Syrian
town of Azaz.
Dozens more had
severe injuries, said the Observatory, which monitors the violence in the
country.
In unsourced
comments, Turkey's privately-owned Dogan news agency said a car bomb planted by
Islamic State was responsible.
There was no
immediate claim of responsibility from the militant group.
Turkey's state-run
Anadolu news agency cited a doctor in Azaz as saying at least 60 people had
been killed and more than 50 wounded.
An Azaz resident who
went to the local hospital told Reuters he had counted around 30 bodies laid
out.
Syria's nearly
six-year war has create a patchwork of areas of control across the country, and
Azaz is a major stronghold of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA).
The FSA is an
alliance of moderate rebel groups whose fighters have, with Turkish military
support, pushed Islamic State militants out of the border area.
Saturday's explosion
was heard across the border in the Turkish town of Kilis, Dogan said.
Anadolu said 23
wounded people had been taken by ambulance to Kilis hospital, one of whom
subsequently died.
In a round-up of its
military operations over the last 24 hours in support of rebels in northern
Syria, the Turkish military said on Saturday that 21 Islamic State militants
had been killed in clashes.
Turkish warplanes
destroyed buildings and vehicles in air strikes on 12 Islamic State targets, it
said.
REUTERS
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