Car bomb blast in northern Syria kills 15 agricultural workers

According to first responders, a car bomb attack in northern Syria has resulted in at least 15 fatalities, 14 of whom were women. The victims were traveling in vehicles transporting agricultural workers at the time of the incident.

The explosion, which occurred on the outskirts of the city of Manbij, east of Aleppo, also injured another 15 women, according to the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the "White Helmets." Some of the injured are in critical condition, and the death toll may rise.

No armed group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing. This marks the deadliest attack since rebel forces overthrew President Bashar al-Assad last December. Furthermore, this is the second car bomb attack to occur in Manbij within three days.

Previously, on Saturday, the Syrian Civil Defense stated that an explosion in a street in the center of Manbij resulted in the deaths of four people, including two children and a woman. The UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that the explosion occurred near a military position, killing nine people, including several pro-Turkish militants.

Since the fall of the Assad regime, Manbij and its surrounding areas have been the site of intense conflict between factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SNA launched offensives to try to seize territory west of the Euphrates River, an area controlled by the SDF since driving out Islamic State (IS) jihadists in 2016. The SNA took control of Manbij on December 9, after fighters from the SDF-affiliated Manbij Military Council withdrew. However, the SDF has since been conducting counter-offensives.