Suicide blast kills at least eight in Damascus

At least eight people were killed in a suicide blast that hit a heavily guarded district of the Syrian capital Damascus, which houses key security installations, on Thursday evening.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

13 January, 2017

Kafr Sousa houses some of Syria's main security installations [AFP]

At least eight people were killed when a suicide bomber hit a heavily guarded district of the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday evening, a police source told state television.

State television reported that the large blast took place in the Kafr Sousa neighbourhood, which houses some of Syria's main security installations.

"Eight people died when a suicide bomber targeted Kafr Sousa" in the southwest of the capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"At least four of them were soldiers, including a colonel," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

State television aired footage of the blast site, showing bloodied scenes and the charred wreckage of several cars, in addition to a heavy security presence.

The exact target of the bombing is not yet clear.

The explosion comes as the regime’s army and allied militias are fighting to capture the Wadi Barada region northwest of Damascus, in a bid to secure the capital’s main water supplies, which have been severely disrupted for weeks.

The Syrian government on Wednesday said it has reached a deal for the regime army to enter the rebel-held region and restore the capital's water supply.

Opposition sources however denied there was any such deal.

Syria's government accuses rebels, including former al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, of deliberately cutting the supply to the capital.

But the rebels say regime strikes damaged pumping facilities and deny that Fateh al-Sham, previously known as Al-Nusra Front, has forces in the area.