35 Killed, Over 50 Wounded in Rebel Truck Bomb Attack on Syria’s Hama

Islamic Front Claims Credit for Attack, Dubs Victims 'Militia'

At least 35 people were killed and more than 50 others wounded today when a remotely detonated truck bomb tore through the village of al-Horra, outside of the Syrian city of Hama. Most of the victims were civilians, including women and children.

The bomb left a huge crater in the village, which is under government control and therefore under off-and-on siege from various rebel factions, as is much of the frontier between rebel and government-controlled regions.

The Islamic Front, the “moderate Islamist” rebel faction which some Western officials have been courting as a potential ally claimed credit for the attack, saying the victims were all members of a “pro-Assad militia.”

The claim was not upheld by even other rebel factions, which noted many civilians among the slain, and only a handful of combatants. It is not uncommon for groups to dub everyone slain combatants of some sort, even when there is no evidence to back that up.

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.