At least 29 Syrian rebels died in an explosion Sunday as they were preparing a vehicle for a bombing attack, a Syrian monitoring group says.
The French News Agency AFP, quoting the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that the car bomb detonated in the embattled city of Homs, killing the fighters, most or all of whom were believed to be rebels.
"The death toll is likely to rise because there are dozens of people missing and body parts in the area of the blast," the Observatory said.
Israel National News compared the reported mishap to “a Gaza style 'work accident.'"
In a separate incident, Syrian residents run in the street after a government warplane dropped barrel bombs at al-Sakhour neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, April 5, 2014. The photo was provided by the anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center (AMC) and was authenticated by the Associated Press based on its contents and other AP reporting. (Photo: AP/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)
Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that the car exploded while it was being loaded with explosives.
The Observatory noted that the explosion occurred in the Homs chicken market which is near a police base, but did not say which group was behind the blast.
According to AFP, another group, the Syrian Revolution General Commission, attributed the blast to a rocket landing on an ammunition storage facility.
TheBlaze is unable to independently verify either claim.
In February, an instructor at a terrorist training camp near Baghdad mistakenly detonated the suicide bomb belt he was using for a demonstration, killing himself and 21 other militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
After the incident was reported, a local merchant told the New York Times, “This is God showing justice...This is God sending a message to the bad people and the criminals in the world, to tell them to stop the injustice and to bring peace. Evil will not win in the end. It’s always life that wins over death.”
In another focus of weekend fighting, the Observatory reported that an adult and a child were killed in the northern Aleppo province by explosives-packed barrels known as “barrel bombs” dropped by government forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.
