Car Bombs Kill Civilians in Syrian Refugee Camp

A pair of car bombs has killed at least six people and wounded several others in Syria’s sprawling Rukban Refugee Camp near the border with Jordan, according to residents.

The first explosion on Monday went off close to a restaurant, while the second targeted the camp’s market nearby, Aljazeera reported.

The reports indicate that at least six civilians have been killed in the attack. The number is expected to rise.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. In January, a car bomb killed a number of people in the camp and the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group has since launched attacks in the area.

Rukban, near the joint Syria-Iraq-Jordan border, is home to refugees and also to militant groups, including the Jaish Ahrar al-Ashair. It was also hit by bomb attacks last year.

The car bombs came just hours after air raids hit a Syrian border town in the eastern province of Deir Az Zor and killed at least 30 people, mostly civilians, according to a monitor.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than a dozen children were among those killed when the air raids—thought to have been carried out by the US-led coalition—hit residential areas and a mosque in the Abu Kamal town.

The IS-linked media outlet Amaq said coalition strikes killed 15 people and wounded 35 others in Abu Kamal.

IS holds most of Deir Az Zor Province, apart from an enclave at the center and a nearby air base controlled by Syrian government forces. The province links territory IS fighters control in Syria and Iraq.