Suicide Bombing Kills Four in Damascus Christian Neighborhood

Bomber Hit Medical Charity in Syrian Capital

A suicide bomber from an as-yet-undetermined rebel faction has attacked a medical charity in the Christian quarter of Damascus’ Old City today, killing at least four people and wounding an unknown number of others.

The charity was treating patients in the Bab Sharqi neighborhood, home to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities. The target was near a major Greek Orthodox church.

Two other explosions were reported in the same general area, though they were much smaller and neither appears to have caused casualties. The two were speculated to have been mortar strikes, though who fired them is unclear.

Christians make up approximately 10 percent of Syria’s overall population. They are seen as pro-Assad by default, since a number of the more Islamist rebel factions have been attacking them openly.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.