A car bomb explosion today killed 14 women and one man next to a vehicle transporting agricultural workers in the city of Manbij, eastern Aleppo.

The Syria Civil Defence (White Helmets) reported today, Monday, February 3, that the explosion resulted in a massacre with 14 women and one man among the dead, and injured 15 women, some of whom sustained severe injuries.

All the victims of the car bomb explosion were agricultural workers, according to the Civil Defence, noting that the current toll is preliminary and may rise due to the presence of serious injuries.

The city of Manbij and other areas in eastern Aleppo have been subjected to attacks by car bombs or shelling from areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), resulting in civilian casualties, especially after the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) took control of the city on December 6, 2024.

Today’s explosion is the seventh to occur in Manbij since December 24, 2024 (about 40 days).

The Civil Defence stated that the continuation of attacks on Syrian civilian environments and targeting civilians while they are trying to recover from the effects of 14 years of the Assad regime’s war threatens their lives, deepens their humanitarian tragedy, undermines educational and agricultural activities, and increases the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Syria, destroying civilians’ attempts to stabilize and driving them to displacement.

On February 1, four civilians were killed, including two children and a woman, and nine civilians were injured, including four children, in a car bomb explosion in Manbij.

The Civil Defence indicated that a civilian died from his injuries, and four others were injured in a car bomb explosion near a school opposite the National Hospital on the Manbij–Aleppo road on January 23.

The explosion also caused damage to the school and civilian properties, marking the fifth of its kind to occur in the city within less than a month.

On January 19, three civilians were injured in a car bomb explosion in the village of al-Kabirja on the road to Abu Qalqal village near Manbij, in eastern Aleppo.

The first explosion in Manbij occurred on December 24, 2024, roughly 18 days after the Syrian National Army took control of the city and expelled the SDF in the context of “Operation Dawn of Freedom.”

The explosion was executed using an explosive device planted in a civilian vehicle, which detonated in the al-Tajneed Street in the heart of Manbij, resulting in the deaths of two people and injuries to 8 others, including two children, as well as fires in nearby vehicles and damage to some homes in the vicinity.

Enab Baladi observed other bombings hitting Manbij that did not result in human casualties, limiting damage to material losses, including one near the Great Mosque on Saraya Street, on December 27, 2024, and on al-Rabita Street, on January 17.