40 Civilians Killed in Bombing in Syrian town of Afrin

At least 40 civilians were killed and at least 47 were wounded when a fuel truck was detonated in Afrin, Syria on Tuesday. The bombing happened in a crowded area in central Afrin and among the victims were 11 children. The Turkish Defense Ministry said that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its Syrian ally, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), were responsible for the bombing. Turkey’s military and its Syrian allies seized Afrin, a mainly Kurdish area about 16 miles from the Turkish border, from the YPG in a March 2018 offensive. US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus condemned the bombing, which, she said, claimed “the lives of dozens of people shopping in the central market as they prepared to break the Ramadan fast.” She said that “many victims were civilians, including children,” and she underscored the US call for a ceasefire in Syria. “Such cowardly acts of evil are unacceptable from any side in this conflict.”