At least 45 people were killed and 110 wounded on Sunday in three bomb blasts near the revered Shiite shrine of Sayyida Zeinab outside the Syrian capital Damascus, state media said.
Advertisement
“The aim of this cowardly and desperate terrorist attack is to raise the morale of the defeated terrorist groups following the great victories that our courageous army has accomplished in several areas”, the state-run SANA news agency reported that Halqi said.
The state news agency SANA says the first blast was caused by a auto bomb that detonated at a bus station near the shrine.
State television footage showed burning buildings and vehicle wreckage in the neighbourhood where the shrine is located. The golden-domed Shiite shrine itself was not damaged.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 29 civilians, including five children, were also killed in the attack.
The ministry said “30 people died and 40 were injured”.
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.
Sunni Muslim extremist groups such as IS consider Shiah to be heretics and have frequently targeted them in attacks.
The bombings cast a shadow over the Geneva talks, the first United Nations effort since 2014 to try to end the conflict that has killed at least 250,000 people, forced millions to flee the country, and given an opening to IS militants to capture territory.
Kerry said ending the Syrian conflict would benefit the world community by ending the migrant crisis and would “cut the legs out from under” ISIS.
“It’s the duty of the responsibility of members of the Security Council to put the pressure on Russian Federation to stop these crimes in Syria”, opposition spokesman Salem al-Mislet told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Syrian ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari, who is leading the government delegation, said Damascus will not accept preconditions for negotiations.
“Those who speak about preconditions are coming to this meeting in order to derail it”, he said.
Advertisement
Overview of the Syria peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 29, 2016.
