Five civilians killed, five wounded in rocket attack on Syria’s Azaz – nurse, activist

BEIRUT (Reuters) -A rocket attack on the rebel-held northwestern Syrian city of Azaz killed five civilians and wounded five others on Tuesday, a nurse at a local hospital and a local activist said.

The dead included a child and four men, the nurse at the hospital in Azaz and the activist told Reuters.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the source of the rocket attack, which took place in an area near the Turkish border that is under the control of Turkey-backed Islamist rebels.

The incident follows attacks by Turkish drones and warplanes on the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria in the last few days as Turkey and the YPG escalated tit-for-tat strikes that have killed civilians on both sides of the border.

Turkey said its warplanes destroyed 89 targets in Syria and Iraq on Sunday, with 184 militants killed in operations targeting the YPG and PKK on Sunday and Monday.

Ankara said its weekend operation was retaliation for a bomb attack in an Istanbul last week that killed six people, and which authorities blamed on the militants. Nobody has claimed responsibility and the PKK and SDF have denied involvement.

(Reporting by Khalil Ashawi; Writing by Timour Azhari; Editing by Peter Graff)