A huge bus blast in a crowded suburb of Damascus Thursday morning killed and wounded dozens of Iranians in a terrorist attack at a market near a Shiite Muslim shrine. The explosion may be linked to a visit of a senior Iranian intelligence official in Syria.
He was not known to be at the shrine, but the blast may serve as a message to Iran by Syrians opposed to the increasing domination of Iranian Shiites in the suburb, known as Sayyeda Zainab. The attack, which eyewitnesses said was carried with rockets, occurred near Khomeini Hospital, named after the late Iranian Islamist dictator Ayatollah Khomeini. Witnesses said the hospital sustained serious damage.
Details are sparse due to Syria’s tight lid on media in the country. Syria's government controlled press said there was no terrorist attack and that the bus was almost empty, but most sources have stated at least seven were killed, including two Syrians, while some reports put the death toll near 20. Eyewitnesses said body parts were scattered around the blast site.
Previous Explosions
A car bomb two years ago killed at least 17 people on a road leading to the same site last year. More than two years ago, a senior Hizbullah terrorist was killed in a car bomb explosion in Damascus, exposing serious problems in Hizbullah and Syrian security.