Counterterrorist officers in Syria yesterday hunted for those responsible for a car bomb attack that killed 17 people in Damascus, one of the deadliest attacks in the country in more than a decade.
The bombing on Saturday near a Shiite shrine in the Syrian capital, which left 14 people wounded, drew condemnation from around the world, including from the US, which has repeatedly accused Syria of fueling unrest in Iraq.
The car packed with 200kg of explosives blew up near a security checkpoint on a road to Damascus airport in what Interior Minister General Bassam Abdel Majid described as “a terrorist act.”
PHOTO: AP
All the casualties were civilians, he told state television.
“A counterterrorist unit is trying to track down the perpetrators,” the general said.
The rare attack in a country known for its iron-fisted security struck the teeming neighborhood of Sayeda Zeinab, the state-run SANA news agency said.
The district draws tens of thousands of Shiite pilgrims from Iran, Iraq and Lebanon each year to pray at the tomb of Zeinab, daughter of Shiite martyr Ali and granddaughter of the Muslim prophet Mohammed.
“It felt like an earthquake. The force of the explosion threw me out of bed,” one man who lives near the scene told state television.
“Thank God this was Saturday. The catastrophe would have been bigger if the attack had taken place on Sunday when schools were open,” he said.
Another man said the blast was heard some 10km away.
The attack prompted the US State Department to announce it was temporarily closing its consular section in Damascus for all but emergency services for US citizens. The Damascus Community School was also shut.
The facilities will be closed “in light of heightened security,” but will reopen on Oct. 5 following the Id al-Fitr festival, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, spokesman Rob McInturff said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described the bombing as “concerning.”
“This attack is particularly abhorrent as it comes during the holy month of Ramadan. We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families,” US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.
Gordon Duguid, another State Department spokesman, said there was no evidence any US citizens were killed or injured in the incident, or of specific threats against the US community or embassy in Damascus.
Neighboring Lebanon, which has been riven by tensions between pro and anti-Damascus factions, also condemned the bombing, as did the UN Security Council, Arab and European states, and Syrian allies Iran and Russia.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
RSS