Car blast kills eight in Syria's Afrin, near Turkish border

At leasteightpeople were killed on Thursday when acarbomb exploded in a busy market in the northwest Syrian city ofAfrin, under control of Turkey-backed rebel groups, witnesses and a rescuer said.

They said theblastalso wounded at least 30.

TheTurkishmilitary helped by its Syrian rebel allies seizedAfrin, a mainly Kurdish city, from the Kurdish YPG militia in March 2018 in a major offensive.

Turkishforces have sincecarved out a buffer zone inside northern Syria that extends along most of the countries'border.

Videos posted on social media showed extensive damage to the market area with fires burning. Reuters could not immediately vouch for their authenticity.

Similarcarblasts frequently hit crowded civilian areas in the mainly Arab populated townsneartheborderwith Turkey under the control ofTurkish-backed forces.

Residents and rebels in the rebel-held northwest blame the YPG for the attacks.

The Kurdish-led forces say they are engaged in a guerrilla campaign againstTurkishforces but deny they target civilians.

Turkishforces launched their offensive inside Syria this month with a view to setting up a safe zone in mainly Arab populatedborderareas east of the Euphrates that the Kurdish-led forces control. It has pushed Kurdish fighters out of parts of the strip.