41 children killed in twin bombings in Syria


(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Kurdish fighters backed by US-led air strikes were locked in fierce fighting yesterday to prevent a key Syrian border town from falling into the hands of Islamic State group jihadists.

It came as 41 children were reported dead in twin bombings that hit a school in the government-controlled central city of Homs, which has been devastated by the three-year civil war.

Anti-jihadist air strikes and heavy clashes in the besieged town of Ain

Al Arab on the Turkish border killed at least 18 people - nine militants and nine Kurdish fighters, monitors said.

Ambulances ferried wounded fighters for treatment in Turkey amid mortar fire, with some rounds hitting very close to the border, an AFP correspondent on the Turkish side reported.

The twin blasts in Homs farther south hit a neighbourhood inhabited mainly by the Alawite community of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, which has been frequently targeted by rebels and jihadists.

One attacker carried out both of the bombings, planting a bomb at one location before blowing himself up at another spot, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The dead children were among at least 48 people killed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

About 191,000 people have been killed since an uprising against Assad erupted in 2011, escalating into a several-sided war involving pro-government forces, hardline jihadists and more moderate rebels.

Near the Turkish border, Kurdish forces have been on the defensive for more than two weeks in the face of a jihadist assault that sent tens of thousands of refugees streaming across the frontier.

With IS fighters less than three kilometres from the town, the US-led coalition carried out three air strikes in the area Tuesday and yesterday, the Pentagon said.

The raids destroyed an IS armed vehicle, an artillery piece and a tank, US Central Command said, bringing to seven the number of raids since Saturday around the town, known by the Kurds as Kobane.

At least eight jihadist fighters were killed when a tank was hit, according to the Observatory, a Britain-based monitoring group.

"Kurdish fighters on the front lines saw the bodies literally being thrown into the air" by the blast, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

One refugee from the fighting told AFP that the light weapons available to the town's defenders meant that they could only engage the jihadists at close quarters.

Ain Al Arab would be a major prize for IS, giving it unbroken control of a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border. The US-led coalition of Western and Arab allies has been flying missions in Syria since last week against IS, an extremist Sunni group that has seized control of large parts of the country and neighbouring Iraq.

Backed by coalition raids, Kurdish forces Tuesday attacked the town of Rabia on the Syrian border, north of jihadist-controlled second city Mosul, and south of oil hub Kirkuk, commanders said.

An officer said up to 12 jihadists had holed up in a clinic and were surrounded.

Farther south, Sunni Arab tribesmen repelled a renewed jihadist attack in the town of Dhuluiyah in fighting that killed 14 people, police and medics said.


Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.