ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least 12 people were killed and 50 wounded Sunday in the Syrian Kurdish city of Afrin, which some reports said was from a Russian airstrike.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the toll of casualties from the incident, but said it did know what had caused the explosion.
However, in a statement to the media late Sunday, Jigarxwen Mamo a spokesperson for the Kurdish security forces Asayish in Afrin put the number of dead at 8 and 51 wounded, 19 of them in critical condition.
Mamo added that the rocket was Russian-made but they "didn't know who was behind the attack,"
But the local Kurdish news agency, ANHA, reported “reliable sources” as saying the attack was likely a Russian airstrike. That claim could not be independently confirmed by Rudaw.
ANHA said many of the casualties were internally displaced persons.
The injured were transferred to a local hospital, it added, saying the attack targeted a security checkpoint for the Kurdish authorities in Xezawiye village.
The news agency also published the names of those killed in the attack.
The Kurdish fighters from the People’s Defence Units (YPG) and its female YPJ counterpart, as well as the Kurdish Asayesh, are in charge of city city’s security.
Many regional and international countries have active air forces in the region, notably Syria, its ally Russia and Turkey, which have all in the past targeted the Kurdish fighters.
The US-led coalition against ISIS also has been flying bombing raids over Syria for months, but it considers the YPG as allies.
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