A car bomb exploded beside a vehicle carrying agricultural workers on the outskirts of Manbij in northern Syria, killing at least 19 people and wounding at least 15 others, according to hospital staff and emergency responders cited by the Associated Press. Almost all of those killed were women.
Mohammad Ahmad, a nurse at a local hospital, told AP that 18 women and one man died. The local civil defence service said another 15 women were injured, with some in critical condition. The BBC reported a later death toll of at least 20 announced by Syria’s presidency, reflecting differing figures in the immediate aftermath.
The blast occurred on a main road south of the city as a flat-bed truck carrying about 30 agricultural labourers passed a car loaded with explosives, according to the Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets. No armed group immediately claimed responsibility.
Munir Mustafa, the civil defence deputy director, described it as the seventh car bombing in Manbij in just over a month. A separate explosion in the city centre two days earlier killed four civilians and wounded nine, according to Syrian state media as cited by AP. The repeated attacks have heightened concern over security during Syria’s unsettled political transition.
Control of Manbij changed hands in December, when Turkish-backed factions known as the Syrian National Army took the city from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Fighting between the groups has continued around the area. The SDF is backed by the United States, while Turkey regards its dominant Kurdish militia as linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Ankara classifies as a terrorist organisation.
The competing sides exchanged accusations after the bombing. The SDF condemned the attack and suggested Ankara-backed groups could have been involved, while the BBC reported that the Turkey-based Syrian Islamic Council blamed the SDF. Neither allegation was accompanied by publicly presented evidence in the supplied reporting, and the Syrian National Army did not respond to the claim against it.
Syria’s presidency called the bombing a terrorist attack and promised severe punishment for those responsible. The SDF said it would contact the interim authorities in Damascus about an investigation.
The violence comes as the transitional government and the SDF discuss the alliance’s future within Syria. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said in an AP interview that his organisation was open in principle to joining the defence ministry, though the practical terms remained unresolved. Against that uncertain backdrop, the Manbij bombing struck civilians travelling for agricultural work and underscored the immediate risks facing communities around the contested city.
