Death toll in Damascus twin bombings rises to 74, monitor says

The death toll in twin blasts that hit a religious site in the Syrian capital has risen to 74 people, a monitoring group reported on Sunday. The dead included 54 civilians and 20 security personnel, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A hardline alliance led by al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fatah al-Sham claimed responsibility for the […]

The death toll in twin blasts that hit a religious site in the Syrian capital has risen to 74 people, a monitoring group reported on Sunday.

The dead included 54 civilians and 20 security personnel, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

A hardline alliance led by al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fatah al-Sham claimed responsibility for the bombings which struck at a religious site in Damascus on Saturday.

The self-styled Levant Liberation Body said in an online statement that the attack was carried out by two jihadists.

It described the attack as a “message to Iran and its militias”.

Iran is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is facing an armed rebellion aimed at ousting him.

Saturday’s attack close to the Bab al-Saghir cemetery in central Damascus, frequented by Shiite Muslims, was caused by a roadside bomb followed by a suicide bomber who blew himself up in a crowd of visitors.

The attack has left dozens of people injured and some of them are still in critical condition, , according to the Observatory, the watchdog said.

Iraq said that the attack had killed 40 of its nationals and injured 120 others who were visiting.

Syria’s state news agency SANA said 40 people were killed and around 120 injured in the attack, which it said was caused by two explosive devices.

This is the second attack claimed by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham in around two weeks. On Feb.25, at least 42 security personnel were killed in synchronized attacks in the city of Homs.

A stronghold of al-Assad, Damascus has seen relatively few attacks since the Syrian conflict started in March 2011.

In November last year, 20 people were killed in two suicide attacks in the mainly Shiite suburb of Sayeda Zeinab in southern Damascus. The radical Islamic State claimed that attack.

The conflict started with demonstrations against al-Assad’s government and spiralled into a four-way civil war that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

It has also driven about half the prewar population of 22 million from their homes. (dpa/NAN)