DAMASCUS: Fourteen people were killed including at least five children in a rocket attack on a market in the northern Syrian city of Al Bab on Friday, according to emergency responders working in rebel-held areas.
The White Helmets rescue group earlier put the death toll at nine.
It said that figure might rise further as rescue and search operations continued, adding that children were also among at least 30 people wounded in the attack.
The warring factions in Syria’s 11-year conflict have carved up the north into a patchwork of zones of control.
Al Bab falls within the areas of Aleppo province held by rebels. Other parts are held by Syrian government troops.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), spearheaded by Kurdish groups who have opened a dialogue with the Damascus-based government, also control parts of the north and northeast.
The head of the SDF’s media centre, Farhad Shami, said the group had nothing to do with Friday’s attack.
Activists in Al Bab had been planning a protest after midday prayers on Friday to denounce comments by Turkey calling for reconciliation between the Syrian government and the opposition.
In a statement after Friday’s attack, they cancelled the demonstration over fears of further violence.
ERDOGAN CALL
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for reconciliation between the government and opposition in neighbouring Syria, echoing similar remarks made by his foreign minister last week.
“The opposition and the regime in Syria need to reconcile,” Erdogan said in comments carried by state news agency Anadolu on Friday.
After more than 11 years of civil war, regime forces now control around two-thirds of Syria.
Ankara’s goal in Syria “is not to defeat Assad” but to find apolitical solution, Erdogan said, adding that states “can never rule out political dialogue or diplomacy.”
He was speaking to reporters on a return flight from Ukraine’s Lviv where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and UN Secretary General António Guterres.
Observers suggest the Turkish leader may be weighing a resumption of dialogue with Assad. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu last week confirmed he briefly met his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in October in Belgrade, the first such high-level contact since 2011.
Turkey controls pockets of land in northern Syria following military operations against the Syrian Kurdish militia whom it considers terrorists. Erdogan recently threatened to expand the offensive there.
Erdogan suggested “further steps with Syria” will also help ease the burden of “4 million” refugees from Syria in Turkey.
Turkish opposition parties have vowed to send Syrians back home if they win the elections next year, amid a high level of resentment towards refugees in Turkey.
However, it is unclear how and when any plans to relocate refugees might work. – Reuters/dpa
