3 Turkish Soldiers Killed among 16 Others in Ras Al-Ain Explosion

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) announced Thursday that 16 people, including 3 Turkish security personnel were killed as a result of a violent explosion that hit the city of Ras al-Ain in northern Syria.

“The death toll of those who died in a violent explosion, that struck the city of Ras al-Ain increased to 16,” SOHR stated.  “Three of them are from the Turkish forces, including an officer, at least two civilians.”

SOHR indicated that there is an officer among the Turkish military, adding that there were 11 dead from the civil police and the pro-Ankara faction, Sultan Murad.

"Twelve more were wounded," it said.

The explosion was caused by a car bomb that ripped through a checkpoint of the Turkey-backed rebels in the city of Ras al-Ayn in the countryside of Hasakah.

The casualty number is likely to be adjusted in the coming hours. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.

It’s noteworthy that Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies last year seized a 120-kilometre (75-mile) stretch of land inside the Syrian border from Kurdish forces, running from Ras al-Ain to Tal Abyad.

It is believed that these bombings are common in Ras al-Ain as last month, a car bomb exploded, at checkpoint of a pro-Turkish faction in the village of Tal Al-Janab, west of Ras Al-Ain, northeastern Syria, leaving 3 people killed and 5 wounded.

Three people were killed and few were wounded, in an initial outcome of the explosion, which occurred in the village of Tal al-Janab, in the town of Mabrouka.