Twin Suicide Bombing in Capital Kills Dozens, Claimed By Jihadists
A double suicide attack in Damascus on Saturday killed 76 people according to the United Kingdom-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Al Jazeera reported.
The first bomb detonated as a bus carrying Iraqi Shiite pilgrims was passing through the Bab al-Saghir area in the capital’s Old City district: 40 Iraqi nationals were killed, according to the Iraqi foreign ministry.
The second bomb detonated 10 minutes later, Reuters reported, injuring civil defense workers who had rushed to the scene: 11 bystanders, eight children and 20 members of pro-government security forces were also killed, according to SOHR.
The attack was claimed by Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance of Islamist rebel forces including the powerful Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria.
“On Saturday … a twin attack was carried out by two heroes of Islam … in the center of the capital Damascus, killing and wounding dozens,” the statement said. The group claimed the attack was revenge for Iran’s role in backing the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Third Round of Syria Talks Continue on Schedule in Kazakhstan Despite Rebel Request to Postpone
Russia, Turkey and Iran are meeting again in the Kazakh capital for Syria talks, Reuters reported.
“We are awaiting confirmations from the other parties to the meeting,” said Kazakh foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov on Monday.
Syrian rebels have asked for the meeting to be delayed, dependent on whether the government follows the rules of a new Russian-brokered cease-fire declared for the period March 7–20. A nationwide cease-fire brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran on December 30 has not fared well, with the government bombing districts with which it has had long-standing truces around the capital.
The third round of talks is set to start tomorrow, March 14, and end on March 15, the six-year commemoration for the start of the Syrian uprising-turned-conflict.
Syrian Children Suffering at ‘Unprecedented’ Level, U.N. Says
A new U.N. report says 2016 was the deadliest year yet for Syrian children, with the situation hitting “rock bottom,” BBC News reported.
At least 652 children were killed, more than one-third of them in or near a school. The number is a 20 percent jump from the previous year.
The number of children recruited to fight doubled in 2016 from 2015, the report said, and 280,000 children are living under siege, with nearly 6 million reliant on aid.
“The depth of suffering is unprecedented,” said Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
RECOMMENDED READS:
- Der Spiegel: Assad’s Control Erodes as Warlords Gain Upper Hand
- The Overseas Development Institute: What’s the Magic Word? Humanitarian Access and Local Organizations in Syria
- The Washington Post: Bashar al-Assad Says Relations Between Syria and China Are ‘on the Rise’
- Al Jazeera: Battle for Raqqa: ‘Difficult and Complicated’
- Al Monitor: U.S. Puts off Announcing Decision on Raqqa Until After Turkey Referendum