At least 40 civilians were killed -- including 11 children -- in YPG/PKK terror attack when a bomb detonated on an oil tanker in the northern Syrian town of Afrin on Tuesday, the Turkish Defence Ministry said.
In a statement on Twitter, the ministry said the blast occurred in a crowded area in Afrin's centre. A video shared by the ministry showed black smoke billowing in the air while ambulance and police sirens wailed in the background.
Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist group linked to the PKK terror group on its own soil and has mounted military operations in northern Syria to push it back from the border.
Turkey's military and its Syrian allies seized Afrin from the YPG terrorists in March 2018 in a major offensive.
Tuesday's blast was one of the deadliest to hit a region under the control of Turkish-backed forces.
