26 Slain in Damascus Suicide Bombing

Opposition Accuses Regime of Staging Attack Themselves

A suicide bombing tore through the capital city of Damacus today, and Syria’s Interior Ministry puts the final toll at 26 slain and 63 wounded. They reported that as many as 15 of the slain were unidentifiable because they were so close to the blast site.

The attack happened near an elementary school in central Damascus, when a suicide bomber blew himself up in an intersection of a crowded residential area. Footage of the aftermath was played on state media, which reported the vast majority of the casualties were innocent civilians.

At the same time, opposition officials were quick to blame the regime for the attack, with one saying that the Syrian government had secretly set up camera crews around the site beforehand and launched the attack themselves.

It is the second major suicide bombing attack in the past few weeks in Damascus, with a previous strike on December 23 targeting the General Intelligence Agency headquarters and killing at least 44.

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.