Rebel Mortar Fire Hits China’s Embassy in Damascus

Second Embassy Hit by Mortars in Recent Weeks

Syrian rebel mortar fire hit the Chinese embassy in Damascus today, injuring one employee and doing some damage to the building. Chinese officials condemned the strike, saying it was a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Reports from the site say that embassy workers were seen cleaning up debris, mostly glass as the shelling shattered a number of windows. There was no indication that day-to-day activities at the embassy were effected.

The strike was the second embassy hit in the past two weeks, after an attack last Sunday hit the Russian embassy, wounding three workers. A third strike in the same neighborhood also hit the Iraqi consulate, killing a worker there.

Though there haven’t been claims of responsibility and there was some initial speculation that the Russia hit may have been accidental, it seems increasingly unlikely that this is the case, since they are hitting the sites of Assad government allies.

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.