Three killed in car bombing in northern Syria's Afrin

Three people died and at least six others injured in a car bombing in the northern Syrian city of Afrin on Sunday, the Turkish defence ministry said.

The explosion was similar to those allegedly carried out by Kurdish forces and the Islamic State group, the ministry said.

"The terrorist organisation PKK/YPG continues terrorist attacks similar to Daesh (IS)," the ministry wrote on its official Twitter page.

The ministry was referring to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Syrian-Kurdish militia group, the People's Protection Units (YPG) which Ankara says is the same entity.

Terör örgütü PKK/YPG, DEAŞ benzeri terör saldırılarına devam ediyor. Afrin şehir merkezinde bombalı araç patlatan insanlık düşmanı teröristler 3 masum sivili katlederken, 3’ü çocuk olmak üzere 6 masum sivili de yaraladı. Terör örgütü PKK/YPG’ye karşı mücadelemiz devam edecek. pic.twitter.com/Y8kYtdKau5

— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) September 5, 2021

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had a different death toll, reporting one person dead and four wounded.

Afrin has witnessed several car bombings over the years, which Turkish forces often blame on Kurdish groups.

The Turkish military and Ankara-backed Syrian National Army carried out a cross-border military operation in 2018 to create a buffer zone in northern Syria, taking over Afrin district.

Turkey and the PKK/YPG have been engaged in decades of fighting, as Ankara considers them terrorists.