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       DAMASCUS: A series of explosions killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 100 at a weapons depot in northwestern Syria on Thursday, a monitor said.

       “Multiple blasts at a weapons and ammunition warehouse belonging to the Turkistan Islamic Party killed 12 people and wounded more than 100 in Maaret Misrin, in northern Idlib province,” said the Syrian Obse-rvatory for Human Rights.

       Those killed included a woman and a child, said the Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the ground.

       The TIP is a group active in the Idlib region made up of Uighur fighters who joined the Syrian civil war to fight against former president Bashar al-Assad.

       Syria’s health ministry had reported four deaths and 116 wounded in the blasts, in a preliminary toll published by the official news agency SANA.

       Authorities did not immediately say what may have caused the explosions. Images showed a huge plume of white smoke over the town, where several children were among the injured.

       Kurdish demand rejected

       Syria has rejected Kurdish demands to keep their weapons, a government source said on Thursday, as a new round of talks on the Kurds’ integration into the state was set to begin.

       The Kurds, who control large swathes of the north and east, are negotiating with the central government on the integration of their civil and military institutions into the state.

       Those include the US-backed Syrian Demo-cratic Forces (SDF), which is Kurdish-led.

       “Talking about refusing to hand over weapons or maintaining an autonomous military force is completely unacceptable,” the source told the state bro-adcaster Al-Ikh-bariya.

       According to the source, such a position “contradicts the principles of unifying the national army and the agreement reached last March between Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi”.

       In March, Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi signed a deal to incorporate Kurdish institutions into the Syrian state.

       While talks have been held regularly since then, progress has stalled.

       Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2025