Bus Carrying Syrian Military Personnel Hit by Bomb Blasts
The attack early on Wednesday was the deadliest in Damascus in years, and a rare event since government forces captured suburbs formerly held by rebels in Syria’s 10-year-long foreign-backed militancy.
Syrian state TV showed footage of the charred bus in central Damascus, saying the blasts occurred during rush hour when people were heading to work and school.
Two explosive devices went off as the bus was near the Hafez al-Assad bridge, it said, adding a third device was defused by an army engineering unit in what officials said was a terrorist blast.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
“It is a cowardly act,” Damascus police commander Major General Hussein Jumaa told state TV, adding that a police force had cordoned off the area immediately and made sure there were no more bombs. He urged people to inform authorities about any suspicious object they see.
There have been several attacks this year on army vehicles in eastern Syria by suspected Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists who still operate in the sprawling desert area.
The attack is the deadliest in the capital since a bombing claimed by Daesh hit the Justice Palace in March 2017, killing at least 30 people.
In August, Syria’s state media said a short circuit triggered an explosion in the gas tank of a bus carrying soldiers, killing one and wounding three.
Blasts in Damascus have been rare since Syrian forces took control of rebel enclaves around the city.
Source: Al Jazeera
