Suicide Car Bombs Kill 24 in Northwest Syria

Bombs Targeted Government Buildings, Checkpoint

by Jason Ditz, January 16, 2013

Three suicide car bomb attacks were detonated within minutes of each other in the Idlib Province in northwestern Syria today, killing at least two dozen people and wounding an estimated 30 others.

Rebels say that the bombings were aimed at government buildings and that the majority of the deaths were “security forces,” but this has been impossible to confirm at this point. At least one of the bombs was detonated at a roundabout on the major highway in Idlib.

It is not yet clear which Syrian rebel faction was responsible for the attacks, but the use of suicide car bombers is in keeping with the tactics of the al-Nusra Front, one of the most aggressive factions.

Near the Turkish border, the Idlib Province is strategically valuable for the rebels because it would provide them with border crossings through which to ferry fighters and weapons into the country. The province has been heavily contested in recent months.

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