Children among 8 killed by car bomb in Syrian opposition-held town

A bomb exploded early Sunday in a shopping area in a northern Syrian city held by forces opposed to regime leader Bashar al Assad, killing eight people and wounding more than 20 others, a war monitor said.

At least "eight people were killed and 23 others wounded" when "a car bomb exploded in the middle of a popular market" in Aleppo province's Azaz, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Volunteers with the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, said the victims included children.

An AFP correspondent saw emergency responders working at the scene and the remains of a mangled vehicle after the explosion tore through the busy market.

First responders struggled to break through the large panicking crowds in the market, searching for casualties, clearing the wreckage, and putting out fires.

No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Syria's war began after the government repressed peaceful protests in 2011 and escalated into a deadly conflict that pulled in foreign armies.

The war has killed more than 507,000 people, displaced millions and battered the country's infrastructure and industry.

Türkiye has launched successive military offensives in Syria targeting the PKK terrorist group, which has waged a decades-long terror campaign, killing more than 40,000 people, against the Turkish state.