In the single deadliest bombing since the Syrian regime change in December, at least 20 people were killed and over a dozen others wounded in a car bombing. Most of the dead, and wounded, were women, and the target was agricultural workers on the outskirts of Manbij.
Manbij has been contested between the Kurdish SDF and the Turkish-backed SNA for weeks, and fell to the SNA a little over a month ago. This marks at least the seventh car bombing in and around Manbij in that time.
Exactly who is behind these bombings, including today’s is not at all apparent. The SDF was quick to denounce the latest bombing and to imply that “mercenary factions affiliated with Turkey” were behind the chaos.
Though that’s possible, some of the previous bombings also killed SNA fighters, so its hardly definitive if its one or the other, or some third faction in the area. It is noteworthy that no one has claimed credit for the bombings, and for the most part they’ve targeted civilians, not combatants.
Turkey and the SNA have been pushing into SDF territory since the regime change, though they’ve seen limited success since taking over Manbij. Turkey has threatened to deploy its own military into northern Syria to disarm or destroy SDF’s largest faction, the Kurdish YPG.
The new Islamist government in Syria, which is aligning itself closely with Turkey, has talked of getting directly involved in SNA offensives and has sent some of their own fighters into the area, but it’s not clear if the Islamists have yet participated in any battles against the SDF.
Syria’s presidency issued a statement after today’s bombing condemning it as a “treacherous terrorist bombing” and vowed to punish those responsible. So far, of course, it isn’t at all clear who that actually is, As fighting continues in northern Syria, the level of instability may necessarily grow further.
