A car bomb detonated at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Turkey and rebel-held northern Syria today, killing at least seven people and wounding some 20 others.
The bombing took place at a roadblock manned by hardline Islamist rebels, who say that the victims were all civilians waiting for permission to cross. So far there has been no claim of responsibility.
There are plenty of potential enemies, however. The first impulse of many is to blame pro-government factions that have been fighting the rebels, but the Islamists have also made enemies of more moderate rebel factions, as well as Kurdish secessionists, and any of them would have a motive to target the Islamists.
The rebels have held Bab al-Hawa since summer of last year, when they sacked the post and attacked a number of civilian truck drivers. The Turkish government has endorsed the rebels since then, and given them more or less free rein at captured border crossings.
