BEIRUT: A roadside bomb struck a bus carrying teachers in Manbij killing one person on Saturday, the latest in a spate of attacks in the northern Syrian city since mid-January, a war monitor said.
The device exploded as the bus passed, killing the driver and wounding at least four others, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.
Sherfan Darwish, a spokesman for Manbij's military council, reported on Twitter a "terrorist explosion with an explosive device against a vehicle of teachers".
Manbij is a former Daesh stronghold that is now held by a military council affiliated to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab force that is supported by a US-led coalition.
On January 16, four Americans were among 19 people killed in a suicide attack in the city claimed by Daesh.
On Friday, an explosion wounded a senior leader of the military council as he was on patrol, Abdel Rahman said.
The attacks follow US President Donald Trump's announcement in December that he would withdraw American troops from Syria, as he declared Daesh had been defeated.
After a lightning offensive that saw it seize large swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, the group's self-declared "caliphate" has crumbled under pressure from multiple offensives, but extremists remain able to launch deadly attacks.
Manbij constitutes a major point of contention between Syria's Kurdish minority, which maintains de facto autonomy in parts of northern and northeastern Syria, and neighbouring Turkey.
In December, Ankara threatened to launch a new offensive to dislodge the People's Protection Units (YPG) - a Kurdish militia that forms the backbone of the SDF, but is considered a terrorist group by Turkey - from its borders.
Syria's multi-fronted war has killed more than 360,000 people since it began in 2011 with President Bashar Al-Assad's regime bloodily suppressing protests.
Syria bus attack kills one, wounds four in Manbij
Syria bus attack kills one, wounds four in Manbij
- The device exploded as the bus passed, killing the driver and wounding at least four others
- Manbij is a former Daesh stronghold that is now held by a military council affiliated to the Syrian Democratic Forces
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 12
- Strikes hit locations in northern and southern Gaza, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent in Khan Younis
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians Saturday, one of the highest tolls since an October agreement aimed at stopping the fighting.
The strikes hit locations in northern and southern Gaza, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent in Khan Younis, officials at hospitals that received the bodies said. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families.
The Shifa Hospital said the Gaza City strike took killed a mother, three children and one of their relatives, while the Nasser Hospital said a strike in a tent camp caused a fire to break out, killing seven, including a father, his three children and three grandchildren.
Gaza’s Health Ministry has recorded more than 500 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the start of the ceasefire on Oct. 10. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts.
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to questions about the strikes.









