Car bomb kills 2 outside aid centre in northwest Syria: relief group

Car bomb kills 2 outside aid centre in northwest Syria: relief group
A car bomb exploded outside a relief centre in northwest Syria on Thursday, killing at least two people including an employee of the International Rescue Committee.

2 min read
03 May, 2018
Idlib has been rocked with violence in recent weeks [File Photo: Getty]

At least two people were killed when a car bomb exploded outside a relief centre in northwest Syria on Thursday, the International Rescue Committee said.

Abdulqadir Saeed al-Ghafri, an employee of the New York-based humanitarian group was among the dead.The 38-year-old was married with four children and had himself been displaced from the northern city of Aleppo.

"This terrible incident is a stark reminder of the great risk taken by IRC staff and other aid workers to help the Syrian people," IRC Middle East director Mark Schnellbaecher said.

"Aid workers are not, and must never be, a target," he said.

The blast hit close to an IRC centre that provides assistance to displaced Syrians in the area of Dana in the northwestern province of Idlib, the organisation said.

Most of Idlib lies beyond regime control, with parts held by a jihadist coalition led by al-Qaeda's former affiliate in Syria and others controlled by rival rebels.

In recent months, several explosions have rocked Idlib province, which has witnessed infighting between competing hardline groups opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.

The most prominent armed group is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which is led by Syria's former al-Qaeda branch.

The opposition province of has also been hit by a wave of killings, as gunmen target rebel commanders, clerics and activists.

Most of the deaths appear to be the result of rebel infighting between the two powerful rebel factions, Ahrar al-Sham and Nour al-Din al-Zinki. 

Free Syrian Army fighters and media activists are also among the victims in the spike of assassinations.

The seven-year civil war in Syria has taken a heavy toll on civilians, killed or driven from their homes during the conflict between the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad and opposition rebel groups as well as Islamic State fighters.

An estimated 6.1 million people are now internally displaced in Syria, more than five million have fled the country and 13 million including six million children are in need of aid, according to the UN. 

More than 700,000 people have been displaced since the start of this year alone as Assad has stepped up his offensive against rebel forces, intensifying the humanitarian crisis.