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A truck bombing at an open-air market in Afrin, Syria on 28 April 2020 killed at least 53 civilians, including 11 children, and 12 Turkish-backed fighters, injuring over 50 others. No individual has been charged.
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On the afternoon of 28 April 2020, a truck bombing occurred near the governor's residence on Raju street in Afrin, a city in Aleppo Governorate, Syria. The explosive device was placed in a tank truck and detonated at an open-air market in Souk Ali, in the city centre. According to the governor of Turkey's neighbouring Hatay province, the explosion was believed to have been caused by a fuel tanker rigged with hand grenades.
The attack killed at least 53 civilians, including 11 children, along with 12 Turkish-backed fighters. Over 50 others were injured. Syrian activists reported that many victims, including people trapped in their vehicles, were burned to death as a result of the blast.
No group has been definitively confirmed as responsible for the bombing. The Turkish government immediately blamed the People's Protection Units (YPG). In response, the Syrian Democratic Council and Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, condemned the bombing and instead blamed Turkish policy, asserting that "gangs armed by Turkey" had been involved in similar attacks in the past.
A separate account, published by the German Marxist newspaper Junge Welt, suggested that the nature of the attack and the surrounding regional tensions pointed toward the involvement of a jihadist group. The Afrin and Idlib regions have experienced recurring clashes between jihadist militias. At the time of the bombing, tensions had also re-emerged between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the dominant rebel jihadist force in Idlib, and the Turkish government, with HTS accusing Ankara of treason following the Russian-Turkish ceasefire reached in early March 2020. In the week preceding the Afrin bombing, HTS militiamen reportedly destroyed a Turkish tank, while the Turkish Air Force allegedly destroyed an HTS base using a drone strike.
As of the available reporting, responsibility for the bombing has not been officially established, and no individuals have been named as charged, convicted, or acquitted in connection with the attack. The case remains without a confirmed perpetrator.
1 dated entry · 2020
A truck bomb detonated at an open-air market in Souk Ali, Afrin, Syria, near the governor's residence on Raju street, killing at least 53 civilians and 12 Turkish-backed fighters and injuring over 50 others.
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PressBBC NewsAccessed Jul 7, 2026
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