Syria: Bombs blow up military bus, killing 13
Bloodshed in Syria as Assad’s forces kill 13 ‘including four children’ in shelling of rebel-held town shortly after Damascus bomb attack killed 14 on army bus
Two bombs killed 14 on army bus in the Syrian capital of Damascus this morningAn hour later Syrian army shelling struck the rebel-held town of Ariha killing 13Rockets hit a busy market area and schools – with four children among deadNo group claimed responsibility for the bus attack, and terror attacks in Damascus have been rare since government forces drove ISIS out in 2018
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A rare bombing of an army bus in Damascus and a shelling shortly after of a rebel-held town in northwest Syria killed at least 27 people in total today, in the deadliest flare-up in months.
Two bombs planted on an military bus in central Damascus were detonated early on Wednesday morning, killing 14 people, in the worst such attack in the capital in four years.
Around an hour after the bus attack, a Syrian army shelling struck the rebel-held town of Ariha in Idlib province, parts of which are controlled by groups that have claimed such attacks in the past.
Assad’s forces killed 13 people in the shelling with four children among the dead, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based war monitor said rockets hit a busy market area and roads near schools as students were heading to classes
The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as White Helmets said 20 more were wounded when dozens of shells landed in the town. Rescuers said they were still searching through the wreckage for survivors.
A rare bombing of an army bus in Damascus and a shelling shortly after of a rebel-held town in northwest Syria (pictured) killed at least 27 people in total today, in the deadliest flare-up in months
At least 14 people were killed and another three wounded after two bombs destroyed a military bus in central Damascus on Wednesday morning
Around an hour after the bus attack, a Syrian army shelling struck the rebel-held town of Ariha in Idlib province, killing 13 people, including four children. Pictured: Syrian White Helmet civil defense workers carry a casualty in the town of Ariha
In the first attack on Wednesday, the bombs detonated underneath a busy bridge in the Syrian capital during morning rush hour, shortly before 7am, destroying the army bus as it passed underneath.
A third bomb was subsequently found nearby and defused by military engineers before it could explode, Syria‘s state news agency said
There was no immediate claim for the bombing and it was not immediately clear if all the dead were bus passengers.
‘A terrorist bombing using two explosive devices targeted a passing bus’ at a key bridge in Damascus, the state news agency said, reporting that at least three people were wounded.
Assad’s forces fired rockets hit a busy market area and roads near schools as students were heading to classes in the town in northwest Syria (pictured, smoke rises from Ariha following the shelling)
The Syrian Civil Defense said 20 more were wounded when dozens of shells landed in the town. Rescuers said they were still searching through the wreckage for survivors
Images released by SANA showed first responders searching the charred carcass of the bus and what it said was a bomb squad defusing a third device in the same area.
SANA quoted a military source as saying the bombs were detonated as the bus passed near the Hafez al-Assad bridge, close to the national museum in the heart of the capital.
‘We hadn’t seen violence of that type in a long time,’ a fruit vendor who gave his name as Salman told AFP at the scene.
‘We thought we were done with such attacks. I hope this will be the last bombing.’
In the first attack on Wednesday, the bombs exploded as the bus was passing underneath the President’s Bridge in central Damascus, leaving the vehicle completely burned out
Damascus had been largely spared such violence in recent years, especially since troops and allied militias retook the last significant rebel bastion near the capital in 2018.
The attack is the deadliest in Damascus since a bombing claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, ISIS, targeted the Justice Palace in March 2017, killing at least 30 people.
The shelling in Ariha was the highest civilian toll since a March 2020 truce deal brokered by Turkey and Russia effectively put fighting in Idlib on standby, the Observatory said.
The truce has been repeatedly violated, and government forces often vow to take territories still out of their control.
‘At 8 am (0500 GMT) we woke up to the bombardment. The children were terrified and were screaming,’ said Bilal Trissi, a father of two who lives nearby.
‘They bombed us in our neighbourhood and in the market. There are children who died and people who lost their limbs… We don’t know why, what are we guilty of?’
The UN children’s agency condemned the shelling, calling it a ‘reminder that the war in Syria has not come to an end’.
The Damascus bombing too will challenge the government’s assertion that the decade-old war is over and stability guaranteed for reconstruction efforts and investment projects to begin in earnest.
The military initially said the bombs were planted on the highway, but later said it believed they were attached to the bus itself
A third bomb found by army engineers beside the road after the explosion is thought to have originally been attached to the bus, but fell off before it exploded
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Such bombings have become rare in Damascus since the government drove ISIS out of the city in 2018.
The bus attack is notable because it occurred in the very centre of Damascus, underneath the President’s Bridge in an area where buses gather before departing for different destinations around the country.
The bridge is a short distance from Syria’s parliament building, government offices, and the Four Seasons hotel where many UN officials in the country are based.
‘It is a cowardly act,’ Damascus police commander Maj. Gen. Hussein Jumaa told state TV, adding that a police force had cordoned off the area immediately and made sure there were no more bombs.
While fighting still rages in the northwest, Assad’s forces now control much of Syria after military support from his allies Russia and Iran helped tip the balance of power in his favor. U.S. and Turkish troops, meanwhile, are deployed in part’s of the country’s north.
One of the last major explosions to take place in Damascus was in 2017 – when suicide bombers hit a judicial office building and a restaurant, killing nearly 60 people. The attacks were claimed by ISIS.
The extremist organization has not held territory in Syria since 2019, but it continues to represent a threat with sleeper cells, mostly hiding in Syria’s expansive desert.
Syrian government forces rushed to the scene where the third bomb was defused and the bus debris cleared from the roadside (pictured)
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Such bombings have become rare in Damascus since the government retook full control of the city from ISIS in 2018
Government troops clear away the remains of the destroyed bus, as the hunt begins for the attackers. Several terror groups still operate in Syria, including ISIS
Syrian government workers clean debris from the side of the road after the bombing, in front of a poster of President Assad
Terror attacks have become uncommon in Damascus since Assad retook control of the city from ISIS in 2018, though terror groups still operate in Syria
Syrian municipal workers clean the site of an attack on an army bus, that was targeted with explosive devices, in the Syrian capital Damascus
President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has been striving to claw itself out of international isolation and had been making inroads in recent months.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the ‘cowardly’ Damascus attack, saying it ‘will not undermine the determination of the Syrian government and people in their fight against terrorism.’
Multiple terror groups operate in Syria, including ISIS and Tahrir al-Sham which has links to al-Qaeda but officially denies being a part of it.
Roadside bombings carried out in the northern city of Afrin earlier this year were blamed on YPG/PKK groups, which are largely comprised of Kurdish fighters who were supported by western forces during the country’s civil war.
Turkey now administers security in parts of northern Syria where they operate, and considers them to be a terrorist group.
President Bashar Assad’s forces now control much of Syria after military help from his allies Russia and Iran helped tip the balance of power in his favor.
Syria’s conflict that began in March 2011, with the brutal repression of unarmed protests demanding regime change, has left more than 350,000 people dead and displaced half the country’s population, including five million who are refugees abroad.
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.
