Car bombing near Syrian town captured from Islamic State kills 60

Reporting from BEIRUT —  Turkey’s news agency said Friday that a car bombing killed 60 people near a town just captured from Islamic State militants by Turkish forces and Syrian opposition fighters.

Anadolu news agency said the explosion killed civilians and Syrian opposition fighters in the village of Sousian, north of the town of Al Bab.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bombing struck near a security post in the village. The Syrian opposition-run Qasioun news agency put the death toll at 45.

The report said the car bomb hit outside a security office where civilians had gathered seeking permission to return to Al Bab.

Al Bab was captured Thursday, after more than two months of fighting with Islamic State militants who withdrew from the town but still control areas around it.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, meanwhile, said a separate attack south of Al Bab killed two Turkish soldiers.

The second attack took place near Tadif, a town still controlled by Islamic State south of Al Bab. The Turkish military said the soldiers were killed when an improvised explosive device went off, but Yildrim called it a suicide attack that happened as the soldiers were on a road patrol. Three other Turkish soldiers were wounded.

The deaths raise the death toll of Turkish soldiers in northern Syria since August to 70.

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UPDATES:

4:10 a.m.: This article was updated with a revised death toll.

This article was originally published at 1 a.m.