Blast in northern Syria kills 8 militants, wounds others

Syrian opposition activists say an explosion at the base of an al-Qaida-linked group in northern Syria has killed eight fighters and wounded others

BEIRUT -- An explosion shook the base of an al-Qaida-linked group in northern Syria on Tuesday, killing at least eight gunmen and wounding others, opposition activists said. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the explosion at the base of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in the northwestern province of Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in the country, but some said it was a shell that exploded as fighters trained. HTS is the most powerful group in Syria’s northwest. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the explosion near the village of Ram Hamadan was apparently caused by a shell that exploded. The Observatory said eight fighters were killed and 10 were wounded. It added that the explosion occurred as drones of the U.S.-led coalition were flying overhead.