Bomb attacks near Hazrat Zainab's shrine in Syria kill 50, wound 110

Published January 31, 2016
Residents and soldiers inspect damage after the suicide attack. —Reuters
Residents and soldiers inspect damage after the suicide attack. —Reuters

DAMASCUS: At least 50 people were killed and 110 wounded on Sunday in three bomb blasts near the revered shrine of Hazrat Zainab (RA) outside the Syrian capital Damascus, state media said.

State news agency SANA said the first blast was caused by a car bomb that detonated at a bus station near the shrine.

It said two suicide bombers then detonated their explosive belts when people gathered at the scene.

The eyewitnesses said the blasts caused massive damage, shattering windows and ripping a huge crater in the road.

Smoke rose from the twisted carcasses of more than a dozen cars and a bus damaged in the blasts, as ambulances ferried away the wounded and firefighters worked to put out blazes started by the bombings.

The shrine south of the capital contains the grave of a granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and is particularly revered as a pilgrimage site by Muslims.

It has continued to attract pilgrims from Syria and beyond, particularly from Iran, Lebanon, and Iraq, throughout the war, and has been targeted in previous bomb attacks.

In February 2015, two suicide attacks killed four people and wounded 13 at a checkpoint near the shrine.

Also that month, a blast ripped through a bus carrying Lebanese pilgrims headed to Hazrat Zainab (RA), killing at least nine people, in an attack claimed by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday's attack.

The area around the shrine is heavily secured with regime checkpoints set up hundreds of metres away to prevent vehicles from getting close to the shrine of Hazrat Zainab (RA).

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, members of Lebanon's powerful group Hezbollah are among those deployed at the checkpoints.

The Britain-based monitor said 47 people were killed in the blasts, including a car bomb that targeted a checkpoint, and included non-Syrian militants without specifying their nationalities.

Hezbollah is a staunch ally of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and has dispatched fighters to bolster his troops against the uprising that began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

More than 260,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict, which has also displaced over half the country's population internally and abroad.

Opinion

Editorial

Dangerous times
Updated 14 Feb, 2025

Dangerous times

Pakistan accounted for six journalist killings in 2024, of which three were deliberately murdered, according to the CPJ.
Difficult target
14 Feb, 2025

Difficult target

A ONE-two punch delivered by an unforeseen, sharp dip in inflation and an extremely slim base of taxpayers is...
Amazing show
14 Feb, 2025

Amazing show

PAKISTAN’S ability to turn it up at the flick of a switch remains uninhibited. The latest show came in...
Trump’s folly
Updated 13 Feb, 2025

Trump’s folly

This latest pronouncement only reinforces the fears of those who see the plan as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing.
Corruption ranking
13 Feb, 2025

Corruption ranking

IT comes as little surprise. Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2024, unveiled on...
Support from remittances
13 Feb, 2025

Support from remittances

EVEN though workers’ remittances dipped, albeit negligibly, in January on a month-over-month basis, the earnings...