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At least 25 people killed in Damascus suicide bombing, reports say At least 31 people killed after Damascus suicide bombings, reports say
(about 2 hours later)
At least 25 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at a courthouse in Damascus, state media reported – the second such attack in the Syrian capital in five days. At least 31 people have been killed and dozens more wounded after two suicide bomb attacks in Damascus, state media reported, the second double bombing in the Syrian capital in five days.
The attack on Wednesday targeted the Palace of Justice in central Damascus, not far from the old city and the famous Hamidiyeh market. State news agency Sana said a number of people were wounded. The first suicide bomber targeted the Palace of Justice, the main courthouse in central Damascus near the Old City. The justice minister, Najem al-Ahmad, told reporters the initial death toll was 31, mostly civilians.
The bomber set off his explosive device after police tried to stop him from entering the building, Ahmed al-Sayyid, a senior state legal official told al-Ikhbariya TV. The second suicide blast struck a restaurant in the al-Rabweh area, to the west of the first attack, causing several casualties, state media reported.
The courthouse bomber set off an explosive device at 1.20pm as police tried to search him and stop him from entering the building, state television reported the Damascus police chief as saying.
Syrian state television broadcast footage from inside the courthouse showing blood splattered on a floor littered with papers, a shoe, broken tiles and stones. Images from a hospital showed a man in a suit on a stretcher with blood on his clothes.
The explosion hit the courthouse at a time when the area was crowded with lawyers, judges and civilians, harming a large number of people, Ahmed al-Sayyid, a senior state legal official told state-run al-Ikhbariya TV.
He later added that 45 people had been wounded. No further details were immediately available.
“This is a dirty action as people who enter the palace are innocent,” he said, noting that the timing of the explosion appeared to have been planned to kill the largest number of lawyers, judges and other people who were there at the time.“This is a dirty action as people who enter the palace are innocent,” he said, noting that the timing of the explosion appeared to have been planned to kill the largest number of lawyers, judges and other people who were there at the time.
Ambulances rushed to the scene to transfer casualties to hospital.Ambulances rushed to the scene to transfer casualties to hospital.
“We were terrified because the sound of the explosion was enormous,” a lawyer in the building during the attack told AFP. “We were terrified because the sound of the explosion was enormous,” a lawyer in the building during the attack said. “We took refuge in the library, which is on a higher floor,” the lawyer added, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It was a bloody scene.”
“We took refuge in the library which is on a higher floor,” the lawyer added, speaking on condition of anonymity. It was a bloody scene.” The bombings come on the sixth anniversary of the start of the Syrian conflict, which began with anti-government demonstrations in March 2011. There has been no claim of responsibility.
According to Damascus police chief Mohammad Kheir Ismail, the attacker struck in the early afternoon at 1.20 p.m. A man wearing a military uniform and carrying a shotgun and grenades arrived at the entrance to the palace, the police chief told state TV. On Wednesday the UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, said negotiations to end the war must speed up.
The bombing comes on the sixth anniversary of the Syrian conflict, which began with anti-government demonstrations in March 2011. “There is no way that we should be accepting the fact that the sixth anniversary becomes the seventh,” he said. “It’s becoming one of the longest and most cruel wars of recent years. That’s why there is a need for an acceleration of any type of negotiations – in Astana, in Geneva, in New York, wherever.”
No further details were immediately available. There has been no claim of responsibility.
On Saturday, scores of people, most of them Iraqi Shia pilgrims, were killed in a double suicide bombing in Damascus claimed by an alliance of jihadi groups known as Tahrir al-Sham.On Saturday, scores of people, most of them Iraqi Shia pilgrims, were killed in a double suicide bombing in Damascus claimed by an alliance of jihadi groups known as Tahrir al-Sham.
Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.