"A terrorist explosion in the Rabweh area in Damascus," state TV reported. The blast reportedly took place in a restaurant in Damascus' north-west, a security source told Sputnik.

According to the source, law enforcement officials pursued three suicide bombers who intended to blow themselves up after the terrorist attack that occurred earlier in the day. One of the terrorists entered the restaurant and activated an explosive device.

The number of possible victims of the blast is unknown so far, but there are killed and injured, the source said.

Earlier in the day, a suicide bomber caused an explosion in the Palace of Justice in Damascus killing at least 31 and injuring 60.

The two explosions on Wednesday took place four days after a deadly twin suicide blast in Damascus. On Saturday, two blasts occurred near Bab al-Saghir cemetery in Damascus. Syrian Interior Minister Mohammad Shaar confirmed that at least 40 people were killed and 120 injured as a result of the attack.

The Tahrir al Sham militant group, which was organized at the initiative of the Jabhat Fatah al Sham terror group (formerly known as al-Nusra Front), is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack. </s> AMMAN - A jihadist group linked to the former branch of al Qaida in Syria claimed responsibility for shooting down a Russian SU-25 warplane with a shoulder launched anti-aircraft missile.



The group Tahrir al-Sham released a statement on social media quoting a commander in charge of its air defenses as saying one of its fighters had hit the jet during an air raid over the city of Saraqeb in the northwestern province of Idlib. Tahrir al-Sham includes the group formerly known as the Nusra Front, which served as al Qaida's Syrian branch. </s> In the deadliest attack to hit the Syrian capital city of Damascus in months, a group of car bombers attempted to infiltrate the city. Two were caught and detonated themselves outside the city, but a third managed to get all the way into Tahrir Square, blowing himself up there.

The Tahrir Square bombing killed at least 21 people and wounded 12 others. Identities of the victims are still not totally clear, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least seven members of the security forces were among the slain.

Where the other drivers were going isn’t totally clear, but they were intercepted at a roundabout not far from the airport. There has been no claim of responsibility for any of the attacks, though war-torn Syria has no shortage of Islamist factions liable to carry out such a strike.

The last large suicide bombing in Damascus, back in March, was carried out by Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist coalition that includes al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front. There are multiple other Islamist factions, including ISIS, who are also potentially behind this latest attack.
• New York Times, AP Retract False Claims on Intel Report on Russia Hacking - July 1st, 2017
• As ISIS Wanes, New Wars Threaten to Emerge in Syria - June 30th, 2017 </s> "We strongly condemn the terror attack at the Shia pilgrim sight in Damascus. As a result this coward attack, dozens of people who were going to hold peacefully a religious ceremony were killed and injured. Such actions demonstrate inhumanity of terrorists. This tragic event also indicates the immediate need for political settlement in Syria," the statement read.

After the attack, the Syrian Interior Ministry formed a special investigation commission to probe the attack in Damascus.

The Tahrir al Sham militant group, which was organized at the initiative of the Jabhat Fatah al Sham terror group (formerly known as the Nusra Front, outlawed in Russia), is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack. </s> Terrorist group Tahrir al-Sham, linked to former terrorist Al Qaeda branch in Syria, claims responsibility for shooting down Russian combat jet SU-25 with shoulder-launched anti-aircraft Projectile.

Tahrir al-Sham released a post on social media quoting a commander in charge of its air raids as saying one of its militants had hit Russian SU-25 during an "air raid" over the city of Saraqeb in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Earlier on in the day, Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that dozens of terrorists were killed as a result of a powerful high precision strike targeting Syria's province of Idlib where Russian SU-25 aircraft was downed.

Russian Su-25 attack aircraft was downed in the Syrian northwestern province of Idlib on Saturday.

"When patrolling the Idlib de-escalation zone, a Russian Su-25 aircraft crashed… According to the preliminary information, the jet was shot down from a man-portable air-defense system," Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that the pilot was killed.

It is noted that the pilot reported that he managed to eject from his plane and landed in an area controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group.

"The pilot was killed during a fight with terrorists," the Russian ministry said.

Terrorist group Tahrir al-Sham includes the terrorist group formerly known as the Nusra Front, which served as al Qaeda's Syrian branch, also a terrorist organization. </s> BEIRUT: At least 25 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a court house in Damascus on Wednesday, state media reported, the second bomb attack in the Syrian capital in five days.

The attack targeted the Palace of Justice in central Damascus not far from the Old City. State news agency SANA said there were a "number of wounded" in addition to the initial death toll of 25.

The bomber set off his explosive device after the police tried to stop him from entering the building, Ahmed al-Sayyid, a senior state legal official told al-Ikhbariya TV.

No further details were immediately available.

On Saturday, scores of people, most of them Iraqi Shi'ite pilgrims, were killed in a double suicide attack in Damascus claimed by an alliance of jihadist groups known as Tahrir al-Sham. </s> Rebel alliance formerly affiliated with al-Qaeda said it was behind blasts targeting Shia pilgrims that killed dozens.

The alliance of hardline fighters in Syria known as Tahrir al-Sham has claimed responsibility for twin bombings targeting Shia pilgrims in the centre of Damscus that killed at least 40 people.

"On Saturday... a twin attack was carried out by two heroes of Islam ... in the centre of the capital Damascus, killing and wounding dozens," the statement said.

The group, a large portion of which previously fought as an al-Qaeda affiliate, said the attack targeted "Iranian militias" and pro-government fighters in revenge for what it said was Iran's role in supporting President Bashar al-Assad's "tyrannical rule", holding them responsible for "killing and displacing" Syrians.

Iran and the Tehran-backed Hezbollah movement of Lebanon are close allies of the Syrian government.

The death toll from the blasts remained unclear as of Sunday, however.

Syrian state television said 40 people were killed and 120 wounded by "two bombs detonated by terrorists", while Iraq's foreign ministry said 40 of its nationals had died.

 

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 76 people, including 43 Iraqi pilgrims, were killed when a roadside bomb detonated as a bus made its way through the Ban al-Saghir area of Damascus' famed Old City, and then a suicide bomber blew himself up.

 

The war monitor said 11 bystanders and eight children were killed in the blasts, as well as 20 members of pro-government security forces.

 

In January, the Tahrir al-Sham alliance also claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the high-security Kafr Sousa district of Damascus that killed 10 people, eight of them soldiers.

 

The centre of Damascus has been largely spared the violence that has rocked other major cities in Syria's six-year war.

 

But periodic bombings have targeted Shia shrines and were subsequently claimed by hardline groups, including Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). </s> An umbrella group of Syrian Islamist rebels has claimed responsibility for two bombings in Damascus Saturday that killed more than 70 people.

The twin blasts hit buses of Iraqi pilgrims at the Bab al-Saghir cemetery in Damascus, Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal said.

As of Sunday, the death toll had reached 74, UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. At least 20 victims were members of the Syrian regime forces and militiamen loyal to the Syrian regime, the group said.

Bab al-Saghir is a sacred cemetery in the southern section of the old city where descendants and companions of the Prophet Mohammed are buried. Shiites make pilgrimages to the site to pay respects to descendants of Ali, the prophet’s cousin, who are buried there.

The first explosion happened near the cemetery, according to the Observatory, and the second happened nearby, as visitors gathered to witness to the destruction.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former Al Qaeda affiliate previously known as Jabhat al Nusra, claimed responsibility for the attacks. The group said in a statement that it were targeting a group of “occupying Iranian militias,” referring to Iranian fighters supporting the Syrian regime, along with Syrian government soldiers.

Iran and Syria are allies. Iranian militias, together with Iranian-backed militias from Lebanon, have been fighting side by side with Syrian regime forces against the rebels.

Syria has been engulfed in a civil war for six years marked by Sunni-Shiite sectarian conflict. Last year, ISIS claimed responsibility for deadly attacks near the revered “Lady Zeynab” Shiite Muslim shrine on the southern outskirts of Damascus. Iraq has has also experienced similar attacks. </s> Dozens killed in fighting among jihadists in Syria

BEIRUT, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Dozens of fighters have been killed in two days of fighting between rival jihadist factions in northwestern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Tuesday.

The fighting has pitted a jihadist group seen as ideologically close to Islamic State - Jund al-Aqsa - against a newly formed jihadist alliance spearheaded by a faction that was once al Qaeda's official affiliate in the war.

The jihadist alliance - Tahrir al-Sham - has captured at least six villages from Jund al-Aqsa since Monday, the Observatory reported. Their power struggle is focused in northern areas of Hama province and adjoining areas of Idlib.

Tahrir al-Sham was formed last month from an alliance of factions including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, known as the Nusra Front until it formally severed ties with al Qaeda last year.

The Observatory said the death toll on both sides so far stood at 69. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Tahrir al-Sham, al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, claims responsibility for yesterday's twin bomb attacks in Damascus which left dozens dead.