Car bomb blast in northern Syria kills 15 agricultural workers

At least 15 people, 14 of them women, have been killed in a car bomb attack on a vehicle transporting agricultural workers in northern Syria, first responders say.

Another 15 women were wounded by the blast on the outskirts of the city of Manbij, east of Aleppo, according to the Syria Civil Defence agency, also known as the White Helmets.

It said some of the wounded were in a critical condition and warned that the death toll might rise.

There was no immediate claim from any armed groups for the bombing, which was the deadliest since rebel forces overthrew president Bashar al-Assad in December.

It was also the second car bomb attack in Manbij in only three days.

On Saturday, two children and a woman were among four people killed by an explosion on a street in the city centre, the Syria Civil Defence said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that the blast was near a military position and that nine people were killed, including several pro-Turkish fighters.

Since the collapse of the Assad regime, Manbij and its surrounding area have seen intense clashes between Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) factions and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is supported by the US.

The SNA launched an offensive to capture territory west of the River Euphrates, which the SDF had held since driving out the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in 2016.

The SNA took control of Manbij on 9 December, after fighters from the SDF-affiliated Manbij Military Council withdrew. But since then, the SDF has been carrying out a counter-offensive.