Damascus attacks kill at least 60 people near Shia shrine

At least 60 people were killed, including 25 Shia fighters, and dozens wounded on Sunday when a car bomb and two suicide bombers struck in a district of Damascus where Syria's holiest Shia shrine is located, a monitor said.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to Amaq, a news agency that supports the group.

The agency said two operations “hit the most important stronghold of Shia militias in Damascus”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the casualties were expected to rise from the suicide attacks in Sayeda Zeinaba, a district of southern Damascus where the Lebanese militant group Hizbullah and other Iraqi and Iranian militias have a strong presence.

Rami Abdulrahman, head of the British-based organisation, said the suicide bombers had targeted a military bus carrying Shia militia members who were changing guard there.

The explosions occurred as representatives of Syria’s government and its opposition began convening in Geneva for the first UN-mediated peace talks in two years.

Syrian ambassador Bashar Jaafari, head of the government delegation at Geneva, said the blasts in Damascus just confirmed the link between what the government says are a Saudi-led and funded Islamist “opposition” and terrorism.

Syrian prime minister Wael al-Halaki was quoted as saying the attacks were prompted by “terror groups” who sought to “raise their morale after a string of defeats” by the Syrian army.

Burning buildings

State television showed footage of burning buildings and wrecked cars in the neighbourhood.

Syrian state news agency Sana, quoting an interior ministry source, said a group of militants had detonated a car bomb near a public transport garage in the neighbourhood's Koua Sudan area.

Two suicide bombers then blew themselves up nearby as people were being rescued.

“Bodies were still being pulled from the wreckage,” a witness told state news channel Ikhbariyah.

The heavily populated area in the south of the city is a site of pilgrimage for Shia Muslims from Iran, Lebanon and other parts of the Muslim world.

The Sayeda Zeinab shrine area witnessed heavy clashes in the first few years of the war.

However, it has since been secured by the Syrian army and Shia militias led by Hizbullah, which has set up protective roadblocks around it.

The shrine houses the grave of the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Taleb, the cousin of Prophet Mohamed, and whom Shia Muslims consider the prophet’s rightful successor.

The Iraqi and Iranian Shia militia groups who have volunteered to fight Sunni Islamist radicals in Syria often say they are coming to Syria to defend the shrine.

Peace talks

The United Nations has said it is aiming for six months of talks, first seeking a ceasefire before working toward a political settlement for Syria.

The nearly five-year conflict has killed more than 250,000 people and driven more than 10 million from their homes.

Reuters