Car bombing kills 17 in Syria's Azaz: monitor
Beirut: At least 17 people were killed Sunday in a car bomb near a bustling market and mosque in a rebel-held city in northwestern Syria, a war monitor said.
Four children were among those killed in the explosion in Azaz, at the heart of a Turkish zone of influence in Aleppo province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The attack also wounded more than 20 people, according to the Britain-based monitor.
"Many people were leaving evening prayers when the explosion happened," Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman told AFP.
In a nearby market, shoppers purchasing clothes and gifts ahead of the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, were also among the victims, said Jihad Berro, a coroner at a local hospital.
He said the medical facility was crammed with victims and their relatives. "The emergency rooms were full, we placed corpses on the floor," he said.
"It is a real catastrophe before the Eid al-Fitr holiday." Resident Abu Youssef said the explosion torched the neighbourhood. "The damage is severe: at least six stores were burned, the storefronts of dozens of other stores were blown out," he told AFP.
It was not clear who was behind the attack. The bombing comes one day after a similar explosion killed 10 people and wounded 20 in the northeastern city of Raqa.
Ankara keeps Turkish troops and intelligence forces in the area, and still backs the local police forces.
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Not too many more vibrant democracies in the world than India: White House
Washington (PTI): There are not too many more vibrant democracies in the world than India, the White House has said, applauding the people of India for exercising their right to vote.
White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby was responding to a question on the ongoing Indian elections in which more than 969 million people are exercising their right to franchise at one million polling stations to elect 545 Members of Parliament from thousands of candidates representing as many as 2,660 registered political parties.
The voting will conclude on June 1. The votes will be counted and the results will be declared on June 4.
“Not too many more vibrant democracies in the world than India. And we applaud the Indian people for exercising, you know, their ability to vote, and to have a voice in their future government. And we wish them well throughout the process, of course,” Kirby told reporters at a news conference here.
Responding to another question, Kirby said the India-US relationship has strengthened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular during the last three years of the Biden administration.
“Our relationship with India is extremely close and getting closer,” he said.
“You saw it on a State Visit (last June). We launched all kinds of new initiatives, working on critical emerging technologies together, and bolstering and expanding the relevance of the Indo-Pacific quad, of course, which India is a part of. And then, just the people-to-people exchanges, and the military that we share with India,” Kirby said.
It's a very vibrant, very active partnership, he said.
"We are grateful for Prime Minister Modi's leadership,” said the senior White House official.
When asked if President Joe Biden believes that India and Japan are xenophobic countries, he replied in the negative and said the president was making a broader point.
“I mean, the president was making a broader point here about the vibrancy of our own democracy, here in the United States, and how inclusive and participatory it is,” Kirby said.
Biden earlier this month had called Japan and India "xenophobic", grouping them with Russia and China as countries that "don't want immigrants".
