Wednesday 20th October 2021
At least 13 fatalities
Terrorist attack shakes Damascus
The security situation in Damascus has improved significantly in recent years. But now two explosive devices are detonating in the Syrian capital. Several people are killed in the act of terrorism. Most of them are said to have been in the military.
At least 13 people were killed and three others injured in a terrorist attack in Syria’s capital Damascus. Two explosives exploded near a bus, reported the state news agency Sana. A third explosive device had been defused. Authorities representatives spoke of an act of terrorism.
Syrian state television showed pictures of a burned-out bus and soldiers firing the fire. A burning bus could be seen on it, surrounded by members of the bomb disposal squad, which is said to have rendered a third explosive device harmless.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights initially spoke of 14 deaths. Most of the fatalities were soldiers of the government, it was said from military circles. The Syrian Observatory reported that officers were among them. Local residents said the two explosions could be heard clearly and caused panic. At first no one confessed to the attack.
There have already been a number of attacks on army vehicles in eastern Syria this year. The radical Islamic IS militia, which is still active in the vast desert region, was blamed for this. In the capital, however, bombings have been rare since government troops took control of the rebel enclaves in the area in 2018.
According to the United Nations, at least 350,000 people have been killed in Syria since the civil war began a decade ago. The conflict had intensified after protests against President Bashar al-Assad.