Damascus Police Club Attacked By A Suicide Car Bomber

A Damascus police officers’ club was targeted by a suicide car bomber recently, according to the interior ministry of Syria. The attack in a residential area that killed a number of people was claimed by the Islamic State. Reports indicate that the attack in the middle class district of Masaken Barza also injured a number of people. A number of government buildings are located in the area.

Eight officers were killed in the attack, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The blast, which was caused by a vehicle detonated inside a parking lot, also injured at least twenty people, the group added. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitors violence in the civil war in Syria.

The bomber was named in a statement released by the Islamic State through social media. The militant group said Abu Abdul Rahman al Shami turned the tranquility of his enemies into horror to avenge the suffering experienced by Sunni Muslims. The group also said the suicide car bomber killed twenty people and injured at least forty others.

Damascus Police Club Attacked By A Suicide Car Bomber - image credit: news.yahoo.com

A statement from the interior ministry indicated that the suicide bomber was prevented from entering the heavily-guarded police officers’ club. The car bomb was detonated at the gates of the complex.

An earlier report from Syrian state television indicated that the explosion happened in a busy marketplace. But, this information was later retracted. The last major bombing in Damascus happened on January 31. The attack happened in a district where the holiest Shiite Muslim Shrine of Syria is located. More than seventy people died in the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State.

The last two years saw a decrease in the number of attacks by suicide car bombers in Damascus. However, the Syrian capital has been a regular target for mortar attacks coming from areas held by the rebels.

Posted by James Fried on Wednesday February 10 2016, 9:23 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Uncategorized. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0