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At least 40 Iraqis have been killed and 120 injured in twin explosions near religious shrines frequented by Shiite pilgrims in the Syrian capital Damascus, according to Syrian and Iraqi officials.
Key points:
- Attack occurred at a bus station where pilgrims were gathered
- Syria's Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar visited the injured in local hospitals
- Death toll is likely to rise because dozens were wounded in the blast
The attack took place at a bus station where the pilgrims had been brought to visit the nearby Bab al-Saghir cemetery, named after one of the seven gates of the Old City of Damascus.
Syrian State TV aired footage from the scene showing blood-soaked streets and several damaged buses.
The second blast went off some 10 minutes after the first, inflicting casualties on civil defence workers who had gathered to tend to the victims, said the Damascus correspondent for Lebanon's Hezbollah-run al-Manar.
The cemetery is one of the capital's oldest and is where several prominent religious figures are buried.
The pilgrims were due to pray at the cemetery after visiting the Sayeda Zeinab shrine just outside Damascus, he said.
Sayeda Zeinab — the granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad — is venerated by Shiites and her shrine is a site of mass pilgrimage for Shiites from across the world.
Syria's Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar visited the injured in local hospitals.
Mr al-Shaar said the attacks targeted civilians, including Arab visitors, who were frequenting the shrines in the area.
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Ali al-Za'tari condemned the attacks, saying: "Targeting civilians is a terrorist act, condemned and rejected by anyone who has a conscience in this world."
Lebanon's Hezbollah group also condemned the attacks, saying they stemmed from an "ideology that uses religion as a cover to stab religion and believers everywhere".
What caused the explosions?
There were conflicting reports on what caused the explosions.
Syrian state news agency SANA said the blasts were caused by bombs placed near the cemetery and that at least 33 were killed and more than a hundred wounded.
Lebanon's al-Manar TV quoted Syrian officials, saying 40 were killed in twin suicide attacks.
Arab TV Al-Mayadeen said at least 40 people were killed and the area was sealed by security after the explosions.
Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group with activists on the ground, said at least 46 were killed in the explosions that targeted buses arriving near the cemetery.
The Observatory said the death toll is likely to rise because dozens were wounded in the blast.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.
A similar attack in the capital, claimed by Islamic State militants, targeted one of the most revered Shiite shrines in the capital last year.
Extremist Sunni groups, such as IS, view Shiites as apostates and consider shrines a form of idolatry.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been supported in the country's war by Shiite militias from countries including Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.
AP/Reuters
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, terrorism, world-politics, syrian-arab-republic
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