Three Car Bombs Hit Damascus, at Least Seven People Killed

Three Car Bombs Hit Damascus, at Least Seven People Killed
An army soldier uses his mobile at a blast site as people inspect the damage in the Baytara traffic circle near the Old City of Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. (Reuters/Omar Sanadiki)
Reuters
7/2/2017
Updated:
7/3/2017

BEIRUT/DAMASCUS—Three car bombs exploded in Damascus on Sunday, state media said, killing at least seven people in the first suicide bombings in the Syrian capital since jihadists attacked in March.

Security forces stopped the terrorists from reaching their targets which would have led to more deaths, officials told state TV, saying the bombers had aimed to hit busy areas on the first day back to work after the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Damascus was hit by two separate, multiple suicide bomb attacks in March, one of them claimed by the ISIS terrorist group and the other by the Islamic insurgent alliance Tahrir al-Sham.

Damaged cars are seen at one of the blast sites in Damascus in this handout picture posted on SANA on July 2, 2017, Syria. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Damaged cars are seen at one of the blast sites in Damascus in this handout picture posted on SANA on July 2, 2017, Syria. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)

The casualties in Sunday’s attack occurred when one of bombers set off his device after being encircled near the Old City district of Bab Touma. A police officer at the scene said seven people were killed and 13 wounded in that attack.

The other two car bombs were destroyed by the authorities, state media said.

Damascus chief of police Mohamad Kheir Ismail, in a phone interview with the al-Ikhbariya TV station, said the cars had been spotted on a highway and pursued. He said they had wanted to cause a large casualty toll but failed.

People inspect the damage at the site of a suicide attack in Tahrir Square, in central Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. (Reuters/Firas Makdesi)
People inspect the damage at the site of a suicide attack in Tahrir Square, in central Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. (Reuters/Firas Makdesi)

Footage broadcast by state TV from the blast that caused the fatalities near the Old City showed roads scattered with debris, several badly damaged cars, and another one that had been turned into a pile of twisted metal.

Footage from another of the blast sites showed what appeared to be the remains of a person and badly damaged vehicles outside a mosque in the Baytara traffic circle near the Old City.

People inspect the damage at the site of a suicide attack in Tahrir Square, in central Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. (Reuters/Firas Makdesi)
People inspect the damage at the site of a suicide attack in Tahrir Square, in central Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. (Reuters/Firas Makdesi)

On March 15, two suicide bomb attacks in Damascus killed several dozen people, most of them at the Palace of Justice courthouse near the Old City. ISIS claimed responsibility for that attack.

On March 11, a double suicide attack in the capital killed scores of people, most of them Iraqi Shi'ite pilgrims. That attack was claimed by the Tahrir al-Sham alliance of Islamic insurgents, which is spearheaded by a jihadist group formerly known as the Nusra Front.

Syrian government forces, which have defeated rebel fighters in several suburbs of Damascus over the last year, are currently battling insurgents in the Jobar and Ain Tarma areas on the capital’s eastern outskirts.

An army soldier secures the area of a blast site in the Baytara traffic circle near the Old City of Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. (Reuters/Omar Sanadiki)
An army soldier secures the area of a blast site in the Baytara traffic circle near the Old City of Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. (Reuters/Omar Sanadiki)
Children look at the wreckage of vehicles at a blast site in the Baytara traffic circle near the Old City of Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. (Reuters/Omar Sanadiki)
Children look at the wreckage of vehicles at a blast site in the Baytara traffic circle near the Old City of Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. (Reuters/Omar Sanadiki)
Damaged buses are pictured at one of the blast sites in Damascus in this handout picture posted on SANA on July 2, 2017, Syria. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Damaged buses are pictured at one of the blast sites in Damascus in this handout picture posted on SANA on July 2, 2017, Syria. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
A damaged truck is pictured at one of the blast sites in Damascus in this handout picture posted on SANA on July 2, 2017, Syria. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
A damaged truck is pictured at one of the blast sites in Damascus in this handout picture posted on SANA on July 2, 2017, Syria. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)