Tahrir al-Sham claims double suicide attack in Damascus
The Islamist group says the attacks targeted Iranian militias accused of backing Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s ‘tyrannical rule’
A Syrian alliance of Islamist jihadist groups known Tahrir al-Sham said on Sunday it was responsible for two suicide attacks in the capital Damascus that killed at least 74 people and injured dozens of Shiite visitors. In a statement, the group said the attack targeted "Iranian militias" and pro-government defence militias in revenge for what it said was Iran’s role in supporting President Bashar al Assad’s "tyrannical rule", holding them responsible for "killing and displacing" Syrians. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of the dead in Saturday’s attack were Iraqi Shiites who were going to visit a cemetery near the Old City of Damascus. The toll from twin bombings targeting the Shiite pilgrims rose to 74 dead, a monitor said on Sunday. Among the victims of Saturday’s blasts were 43 Iraqi pilgrims who had come to the Syrian capital to visit Shiite shrines in Damascus’s famed Old City, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Britain-based mon...
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