Damascus, Jan 26 (IANS): A booby-trapped vehicle tore through a security headquarter of the Syrian rebel, Ahrar al-Sham Movement, in the northern province of Aleppo on Monday, killing 23 people, including 19 militants and injuring tens of others, a monitor group reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the "powerful explosion" rocked the rebel-held district of al-Sukary in eastern Aleppo city, Xinhua reported.

It added a suicide bomber detonated his booby-trapped fuel tanker in the security zone of the Ahrar al-Sham Movement, killing four civilians, including a woman and a child, and 19 militants, including at least four commanders. The bombing also destroyed three buildings.

The London-based watchdog group said the death toll could likely rise as many militants were critically wounded and people were under the rubble. No party claimed responsibility for the attack.

Ahrar al-Sham, a Salafist rebel movement that enjoys close ties with Turkey, is a coalition of multiple Islamist and Salafist units that coalesced into a single brigade in order to fight against President Bashar al-Assad.