At least eight people perished and more than 20 sustained injuries after a car explosion rocked the village of Suluk in the north of the Syrian Raqqa Governorate on Sunday, the Turkish Defence Ministry said via Twitter. The ministry blamed Kurdish militia for the attack.
"Innocent civilians were massacred by the bloody PKK / YPG terrorists. 8 civilians were killed and more than 20 were wounded in the attack organised by terrorists in the village of Salık Atik in the south of Tal Abyad," the post read.
Eli kanlı PKK/YPG’li teröristlerce yine masum siviller katledildi. Teröristlerin Tel Abyad güneyindeki Salık Atik köyünde bomba yüklü araçla düzenlediği saldırıda 8 sivil hayatını kaybetti, 20’den fazlası yaralandı. pic.twitter.com/8GYVMagjpQ
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) November 10, 2019
In October, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a military operation in northeastern Syria to "clear the territory of terrorists," referring to the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers terrorists.
Several weeks later, the operation came to a halt following lengthy negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Russian city of Sochi.
Under the agreement, Russian military police and Syrian border guards committed themselves to facilitating the withdrawal of Kurdish militia from an 18-mile border zone, outside the area of the Turkish military's 'Operation Peace Spring.' Russia and Turkey have since begun joint patrols along the border.
