Blast in camp for Syrian refugees kills 6
A large explosion has rocked a camp for displaced Syrians along the Syrian-Jordanian border, killing at least six, and wounding many others.
Mohammed Hassan al-Homsi, an opposition activist with the Palmyra News Network, said a small truck carrying blankets was detonated from afar, killing at least six civilians at the camp, including a man, his wife and two children.
Badr Abu Sultan, a resident of the Rukban camp, said the explosion occurred outside the local market.
"There was a powerful explosion at the beginning of the market," Abu Sultan said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the explosion caused a huge cloud of smoke over the area.
A video posted by the Syrian Media Organisation also showed some tents burning, as parts of the car bomb were scattered across the camp.
The displaced Syrians live in makeshift camps between two parallel barriers that mark the Jordanian-Syrian frontier.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the Russian military said that six of its long-range bombers have struck Islamic State positions in Deir el-Zour in eastern Syria.
The raid came as Syrian government troops in Deir el-Zour found themselves in an increasingly difficult situation, cut in half in an ongoing IS offensive against the last remaining pockets of government control.
The Russian Defense Ministry said six bombers successfully hit all designated targets, including the militants' camps, weapons locations and ammunition depots.
Activists in Deir el-Zour say amid intense shelling from Russian, Syrian and coalition jets and fighting on the ground, civilians are fleeing.
Russia has conducted an air campaign in Syria since September 2015, helping Syrian government forces to reverse the tide of the nearly six-year conflict.
