Car bomb near Syria-Turkey border crossing kills at least 20: witnesses

AZAZ: At least 20 people, mostly Syrian rebel fighters, were killed after a car bomb exploded on Thursday near a checkpoint close to the Bab al Salama crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in northern Syria, two witnesses said.

They said the blast took place near a checkpoint manned by a group of Free Syrian Army's (FSA) Jabhat al Shamiya close to a car depot nearly two km (one mile) away from the border crossing, a major conduit for traffic between opposition-held northern Syria into Turkey.

Rescue workers rushed dozens of injured to the nearby Azaz hospital, one witness said, adding that mosques were appealing to people to donate blood.

The Bab al Salama crossing is close to the city of Azaz, a major stronghold of Turkish-backed and Western-vetted moderate FSA Syrian rebel fighters involved in a major operation along another stretch of border further to the northeast against the remaining presence of Daesh militants along the border.

The attack comes a week after an Islamic State militant blew himself up in Atmeh border crossing between Syria's opposition areas in the province of Idlib in northwestern Syria and Turkey.

That blast killed at least 25 people and targeted mainly Turkish-backed FSA rebels fighting alongside other factions in Ankara's offensive, dubbed "Euphrates Shield," to push out the militants from their last northern Syrian enclave.

Daesh is fighting against all sides, including the Syrian government, foreign-backed rebels and other U.S.-backed fighters.