BEIRUT: Turkish artillery fire on the Kurdish-majority enclave of Afrin in northern Syria killed at least 22 civilians on Friday, a monitor said.
“Since midnight (2200 GMT Thursday), 18 civilians, including five children, were killed by Turkish artillery fire on the city of Afrin,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“There is fighting on the northern edge of the city,” the Britain-based monitoring organization said.
On January 20, Turkey and Syrian Arab rebel proxies launched an air and ground offensive on the Afrin region, which is controlled by the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Ankara has consistently denied targeting civilian infrastructure but the Observatory said at least 245 civilians, including 41 children, have been killed in less than two months.
Turkish-led forces have nearly fully encircled the city of Afrin, with only one road left open for civilians to flee to areas controlled by the Syrian regime or the YPG.
The Observatory said on Thursday that more than 30,000 civilians had fled Afrin in 24 hours.
Turkish fire on Syria’s Afrin kills 22 civilians: monitor
Turkish fire on Syria’s Afrin kills 22 civilians: monitor
Hundreds mourn in Syria’s Homs after deadly mosque bombing
- Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect
HOMS: Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday despite rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs where a bombing the day before killed eight people and wounded 18.
The crowd gathered next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi Al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the population is predominantly from the Alawite minority, before driving in convoys to bury the victims.
Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect.
A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.
The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
A neighbor of the mosque, who asked to be identified only by the honorific Abu Ahmad (“father of Ahmad“) out of security concerns, said he was at home when he heard the sound of a “very very strong explosion.”
He and other neighbors went to the mosque and saw terrified people running out of it, he said. They entered and began trying to help the wounded, amid blood and scattered body parts on the floor.
While the neighborhood is primarily Alawite, he said the mosque had always been open to members of all sects to pray.
“It’s the house of God,” he said. “The mosque’s door is open to everyone. No one ever asked questions. Whoever wants to enter can enter.”
Mourners were unable to enter the mosque to pray Saturday because the crime scene remained cordoned off, so they prayed outside.
Some then marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali,” in reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law whom Shiite Muslims consider to be his rightful successor.
