Suicide Bomber Kills 29 Near Al-Bab
By Oladipupo Mojeed with agency report
A suicide bomber has killed 29 people who were mostly rebels, near the Syrian town of Al-Bab which they had taken from the Islamic State group just hours earlier.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives in Susian, eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of the strategic town which the Turkish-backed rebels overran on Thursday after weeks of fighting.
The blast devastated two adjacent rebel command posts and also seriously wounded a large number of fighters, the Observatory said.
About Al-Bab
Al-Bab, just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the last IS stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.
Rebels launched an offensive to capture the town last year with the support of Turkish ground troops, artillery and air strikes.
Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.
The battle for Al-Bab has been the bloodiest of the campaign with at least 69 Turkish soldiers killed there.
