Blast goes off in Syria's Kobani, conflicting accounts on cause

[July 20, 2015]  BEIRUT (Reuters) - An explosion went off in the Syrian border town of Kobani on Monday, and conflicting accounts were given of its cause.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, said it was caused by a car bomb targeting a checkpoint operated by the Kurdish YPG militia that controls the town at the border with Turkey and which is also known as Ayn al-Arab. The YPG spokesman, however, said there had been "explosions" in Kobani as the result of ordnance that had gone off during an operation to clear undetonated explosives left by Islamic State. Across the border in the nearby Turkish town of Suruc, a separate explosion killed more than 20 people, witnesses told Reuters. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Andrew Heavens) [© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.