That is Syria——

A bomb exploded in a shopping district in a northern Syrian city controlled by pro-Turkish forces on Sunday, killing eight people and wounding more than 20, a war observer said.

An AFP reporter said the explosion occurred shortly after midnight in Azaz, Aleppo province, as crowds of people were out shopping late during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that “a car bomb exploded in the middle of a popular market,” killing “eight people and injuring 23 others.”

The UK-based Observatory, which has a network of sources inside Syria, said the explosion caused “significant damage” and sparked a fire.

Bombings and other security incidents are common in areas controlled by pro-Turkish forces in northern Syria, where confrontations between armed factions and the risk of attacks by jihadists from the Islamic State group have exacerbated an already fragile security situation after years of war.

AFP reporters saw emergency workers working at the scene and the remains of a destroyed vehicle.

Khaled al-Nowmeh, 36, who owns a pharmacy in Azaz, said he, his wife and children were shopping for clothes at a market when the blast occurred.

“We heard noises and ran away… My son started crying,” he said, lamenting the ongoing security incidents in the area.

Thaer Hafar, 34, who works at a shop in Azaz, said he and his family were on their way to the market when the explosion occurred.

“All we heard were explosions,” he said, adding there were fears a second car bomb could occur.

“Without security, we feel scared even if we stay at home,” he told AFP.

Checkpoints tightened

A local gendarmerie official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said it was unclear who was behind the explosion and that Kurdish forces, Islamic State or other armed groups were all potential suspects.

The official added that police had “tightened all checkpoints” and were checking security cameras.

War in Syria erupted in 2011 after the Syrian government cracked down on peaceful protests and escalated into a deadly conflict that attracted jihadists and foreign troops.

The war has killed more than 507,000 people, displaced millions and severely damaged the country’s infrastructure and industry.

Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies control a large swath of the border area, including several major towns such as Azaz.

Turkey has launched a series of military offensives in Syria, most of which have targeted Kurdish militants linked to Ankara’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

Earlier this month, a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint in Array, a border town east of Azaz, killing one man and wounding two gendarmes, the Observatory said.

It is unclear who placed the device.

Days earlier, several Islamic State members escaped from a prison in the Afrin region west of Azaz, Observer reported, noting that a similar incident occurred last year.