Several Turkish service members and Syrian militants, including a commander, were killed on January 15 in a booby-trapped car explosion.
Syria TV, a pro-opposition channel based in Turkey, said that the explosives-laden car exploded inside headquarters of the so-called Syrian National Army (SAN) in the town of Suluk in the Turkish-occupied part of northern Raqqa.
“Two Turkish soldiers and five personnel of Ahrar al-Shariqyah [an SNA faction], including commander Thabit al-Hewish (Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Armani), were killed in the booby-trapped car explosion,” the channel reporter said.
According to the reporter, the car blew up when the Turkish soldiers and their Syrian comrades attempted to dismantle it in the headquarters’ yard.
Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense has not commented on the incident, so far. The ministry usually admits human losses in Syria within 24 hours.
Last week, four Turkish service members, including two officers, were killed when two car bombs blew up in the vicinity of the Turkish-occupied town of Ras al-Ayn in the northern al-Hasakah countryside.
Ankara held Kurdish forces, mainly the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), responsible for the last bombing and for many previous ones. However, this is yet to be proven.
