October 21, a booby-trapped car exploded in the district of al-Qusur in the center of the northern city of Idlib, which is controlled by the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), according to the Syrian news outlet Enab Baladi.
The pro-opposition news outlet said that three civilians were killed, including a child, and ten others were injured as a result of the explosion. The number of the casualties is expected to raise in the upcoming hours, as some of the injured people are in a critical condition.
Some Syrian opposition activists accused ISIS cells in Idlib of carrying out the attack. Few days ago, HTS’ security forces captured a booby-trapped car in a hideout of ISIS in Idlib’s countryside and arrested “Samir Ahmad al-Amed,” a security commander of ISIS. Al-Ahmad was reportedly planning to conduct a similar attack.
The incident reflects the deteriorating security situation in Idlib. This situation is a serious challenge for the Russian-Turkish deconfliction agreement on the northern governorate, which is already facing several problems.
Photos of the explosion in idlib:
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