A drone attack during a graduation ceremony at a military academy in the Syrian city of Homs left at least 100 dead this Thursday, October 5, according to the latest reported figure. Among the victims are women and children. The incident also left more than 200 injured, the Government confirmed.
First modification:
3 min
“In a preliminary assessment, the terrorist act during the graduation ceremony of the students of the Homs Military Academy caused the death of 80 martyrs, including six children, while the number of wounded rises to 240,” said the Minister of Health. Syrian, Hassan Al-Ghobash, on official television. Later, the number increased to at least 100 fatalities.
The officers’ graduation ceremony was about to end when a violent explosion unleashed chaos at the military academy in Homs, a city located in central-western Syria and the third most populated in the country.
Several ambulances arrived at the scene to transport the injured people. At least six of the fatalities are children.
Previously, the NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in the United Kingdom and which has a network of sources in Syria, had indicated that the attack had left “more than a hundred dead, including around half of the graduates.” and 14 civilians”, and about 125 wounded.
Army accuses armed terrorist organizations
The Syrian Army accused armed terrorist organizations of the drone attack.
“Supported by already known international parties,” they attacked the graduation ceremony “using drones loaded with explosives,” indicates a statement published by the General Command of the Army, in which it describes the attack as a “cowardly terrorist act” and a “criminal act.” without precedents”.
The Army did not mention the possible reasons for the attack nor did it attribute responsibility to a particular group, but assured that there will be a forceful response.
“We will do it with full force against these terrorist organizations wherever they exist,” he said.
For now, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Security sources indicated that senior commanders of the Syrian Army and the Minister of Defense, Ali Mahmud Abbas, were present at the ceremony. However, according to these sources, the official left the place shortly before the attack.
Homs was the scene of fighting between regime forces and rebel militants seeking to overthrow President Bashar Al-Assad in 2012.
In 2014, the Government regained full control of Homs, a city that after the popular protests of 2011 became a rebel fiefdom.
Escalation of violence in Syria and Turkish offensive
The use of drones has increased in recent years, both by rebel groups that control sectors of the north of the country, and by the Government and its allies for their offensive.
This same Thursday, at least five civilians died as a result of a bombing by the Syrian Government in a village in the northwest of the country, an area controlled by the rebels.
The civil war in Syria, which broke out in 2011, has left tens of thousands dead, injured and displaced.
Added to this is the offensive in Iraq and northern Syria announced by the Turkish Government against Kurdish armed groups in response to the suicide attack on October 1 in Ankara, which left two injured and was claimed by the PKK group, considered terrorist by Turkey.
In this regard, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (FSD) alliance accused Turkey of launching attacks in northeastern Syria on Thursday, which have left at least nine dead.
#dead #drone #attack #military #academy #Syria