The Arab Democrat The Latest From The Arab World
Related Articles
The Syrian branch of the al-Qaeda, the Al-Nusra Front, on Monday claimed responsibility for the two car bomb attacks in the city of Homs on Sunday. The Governor of Homs Talal al-Barazi said that the twin car bombs attacks claimed the lives of 12 people.
According to the group’s Twitter account, “God generously made it possible for the jihadists of Al-Nusra Front in Homs… to break through the strongholds of the regime’s shabiha (militia)… despite the many obstacles, security barriers and checkpoints”. Their statement also said that the first car was parked in the Zahraa district in eastern Homs, while the second car was parked in the western part of the city. The Al-Nusra added that both suicide car bombs “were detonated at the same time, in order to secure the highest death toll possible”.
Governor al-Barazi had earlier said that the death toll from the first car bomb now stands at 12 people, with 23 more people wounded in the bomb, revising the count of 10 he had said a day earlier. The second attack in Homs, he added, wounded 7 people.
Homs has been the central point of some of the worst violence in Syria ever since the civil war against President Bashar Assad broke out three years ago. For two years now, local residents and anti-regime fighters were trapped in an army siege of Old City in Homs. Earlier this month, everyone under siege in Old City was evacuated in an unprecedented deal which involved Iran, which supports Assad’s regime, and the opposition coalition.
The end of the siege brought the Old City back under the control of the regime, leaving only the district of Waer under rebel control. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human rights, a similar deal is being negotiated for truce in Waer.
