DAMASCUS 29 Apr (ANA) - At least 40 people have been killed in a bomb attack in the north-western Syrian city of Afrin, Turkey says.

The governor of the neighbouring Turkish border province of Hatay said a fuel tanker rigged with a hand grenade exploded at a crowded market place.

He and Turkey's defence ministry blamed a Kurdish militia group, the YPG, which they see as linked to Kurdish militant groups inside Turkey.

Afrin is controlled by Turkish forces and allied Syrian opposition factions.

In 2018, they launched a joint operation to drive the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia out of the city and its surrounding region.

The Turkish government accuses the YPG of being an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and EU. 

The YPG, which the US relied on to defeat the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria, says they are separate entities.(ANA)

FA/ANA/29 April 2020----