14 killed in a bomb blast on a military bus in Damascus

A bomb blast on a military bus in the center of Damascus has reportedly killed 14 people, as per the news of Syrian state media. Two of the explosive devices were attached to the vehicle that had blown up. The vehicle passed under the bridge of Jisr al-Rais during the busy morning hours.

Syria has been embroiled in civil war for a decade now. However, such attacks in the capital are still rare. Soon afterward, the army shellfire killed more than 10 people in the opposition.

The region is the last one that has strongly held the rebels of the jihadist group which is trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

This war had left more than 350000 people dead. It has further caused half of the population to escape from their homes.

The bomb blast on Wednesday has been deadlier enough in the city since 2017. In March of 2017, the blast has killed 31 people in a suicide attack at the main court complex. The jihadist group Islamic State has claimed this.

“I was sleeping when I heard a strong explosion. I woke up and saw a bus on fire, which came to a halt after hitting the sidewalk,” Abu Ahmed, a fruit seller at a market near the bridge, told AFP news agency. “Also, I later heard the sound of a second explosion, but this one was not as strong as the first one.”

The video scene which is surfacing shows the charred remains of the bus. The smoke is billowing from its broken windows as the firefighters are putting out the flames.

Sana said that military engineers had refused a third explosive device that had fallen from the vehicle. The police commander Mai Gen Hussein Jumaa has called this attack a cowardly attack.

Not any group has yet accepted the responsibility after this bombing. But the suspicion is falling on IS, which has attacked many military vehicles in the eastern part of the country.

Four children and women are among the killed in the town of Ariha.

“We woke up to the bombardment. The children were screaming with fear”, Bilal Trissi, a father-of-two who lives in Ariha, told AFP. “We didn’t know what to do or where to go, and we didn’t see anything because of all the dust around us.”

North-Western Syria has seen sporadic violence since the brokering of the ceasefire in March 2020. Turkey backs the opposition, and Russia has deployed its troops to the region to prevent an escalation.

Credits: BBC