BEIRUT – At least 42 people were reported dead Saturday in a pair of car bombs in the southern Turkish town of Reyhanli, the latest apparent example of spillover violence from the ongoing conflict in neighboring Syria.
More than 140 people were injured, with at least 20 in critical condition, according to Turkish officials and media reports.
The blasts reportedly caused panic in the town, where there have been tensions between Syrian refugees and Turkish residents. Reyhanli, in Hatay province, is just a few miles from the Syrian border and has been a magnet for Syrian refugees and rebels.
After the bombing, outraged Turks attacked Syrians and cars with Syrian license plates, according to reports from a resident and the BBC, which quoted local media.
Some Turks have objected to the influx of Syrian refugees and express fear that the region is being dragged into the Syrian conflict.
“I never witnessed any explosions when I was in Syria so they brought them here so I wouldn’t miss out,” said a Syrian woman, Fairouz, reached in her home in Reyhanli. “Today they are giving us many surprises.”
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