Car Bomb Explosion In Turkey-Controlled Northern Syrian Town

A car bomb has exploded in a Turkey-controlled northern Syrian town, killing at least three people, Turkey's Defence Ministry said.

A Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, believes nine people died from the explosion in the border town of Tal Abyad, saying four were from the same family.

More than 20 people were wounded in the explosion in the industrial neighbourhood of Sinaa, said the ministry.

The Observatory reported intense fighting early on Saturday between the Turkey-backed fighters, supported by artillery, and the Kurdish-led fighters outside Ein Issa, about 22 miles south of Tal Abyad and near the M4 highway.

Syrian government troops had deployed to the town, formerly an administrative centre for the Kurdish-led forces, after US troops stationed there withdrew.

On Saturday, the Observatory said the Syrian troops withdrew amid an advance by the Turkey-backed fighters, who have been seeking to capture the town for weeks.

A Kurdish official said the Turkey-backed force is attacking the highway at the town's entrance, leaving all fighters in the town mobilised, including the Syrian government troops. It was not clear if the Syrian troops had since withdrawn. A video of the fighting showed Syrian government troops on the front line.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said the Turkish fighters launched attacks with tanks and artillery on a number of points in Ein Issa, attempting to invade it. "The ceasefire is once again violated by the Turkish army," the SDF said in a tweet.

Turkish troops and Turkey-backed fighters captured Tal Abyad from Kurdish-led fighters in October as part of Ankara's invasion of north-eastern Syria, where it is seeking to push back Syrian Kurdish fighters from its borders.

The ministry blamed the car bomb attack on Syrian Kurdish fighters, the third such attack in Tal Abyad this month, leaving at least 24 people dead.

Turkey is seeking to expand its sphere of influence in Syria's north. Ankara views the Kurdish fighters as terrorists for their links to a Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey.

Turkey already controls a large stretch of land in north-west Syria.

Despite a US and Russia-negotiated ceasefire, fighting in different parts of the northeast continues, as Turkey-backed fighters advance on areas more than 20 miles south of the border.