Bomb Explosion in Manbij, Syria Leaves 20 Dead; Damascus Promises to Punish Perpetrators

Syrian officials announced that a bomb explosion in the city of Manbij, located in the north of the country, has left at least 20 dead. The office of the presidency of the new Syrian government issued a statement on Monday, February 4, promising to punish those responsible for the incident, stating that the bomb was planted inside a vehicle. This marks the second deadly bombing in Manbij in recent days, coinciding with negotiations between the new Syrian government, which has close ties with Ankara, and the Syrian Democratic Forces led by the Kurds regarding the administration of disputed areas. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. The Syrian Democratic Forces condemned the bombing, and the new Syrian government did not name the perpetrators in its statement. The statement from the Syrian presidency added, 'The perpetrators of this crime will be severely punished. The perpetrators of this attack will be pursued and will face the consequences of their actions.' Despite U.S. efforts, which is the main supporter of the Syrian Democratic Forces, ceasefire negotiations have not yet yielded results, and fighting between this group and Turkey-backed militants in the Manbij area continues. Ahmad al-Shara, the interim president of Syria, is set to visit Turkey on Tuesday for his second foreign trip. The Turkish government considers Syrian Kurds to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and a terrorist group, and in recent years has captured parts of northern Syria in several large operations. Concurrently with the rapid advance of Syrian militants from the north towards Damascus, which led to the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government on January 7, Turkey-backed armed groups also began their attacks on Kurdish-controlled areas, capturing the strategic points of Manbij and the city of Tal Rifaat in northern Aleppo province. Mazloum Abdi, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, condemned the bombing on the social media platform X, stating, 'Those responsible for this attack must be punished.' The Syrian Civil Defense organization, known as the White Helmets, stated that the target of this bombing was a gathering of agricultural workers in the outskirts of Manbij, and several of the victims were women and children. In video footage released by this organization on social media, rescue operations and the transfer of the injured and the charred remains of the vehicle in which the bomb was planted can be seen. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an independent organization based in the UK, reported on Saturday that at least 9 people, including several militants from Turkey-backed groups, were killed in the explosion of a car bomb. Ahmad al-Shara, the interim president of Syria, visited Riyadh last week to garner support from Arab and wealthy Gulf countries for the reconstruction of Syria, meeting with Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The public relations officer of the Syrian presidency's office wrote on X that Ahmad al-Shara is set to meet with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his trip to Turkey to discuss 'joint actions for economic reconstruction, establishing sustainable stability, and security in Syria.' The Turkish government has threatened that if the Syrian Democratic Forces do not accept Ankara's plan for a peaceful transfer of power in Syria, it will attack Kurdish-controlled areas. The Turkish Foreign Minister stated last month after a round of consultations in Ankara that the country would never allow the territory controlled by Syrian Kurds to become a base for security threats against Turkey.