At least six people were killed in a bomb blast near a shrine south of the Syrian capital Damascus. Besides, more than 20 people were injured. The shrine contains the grave of Sayeda Zainab, the granddaughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and daughter of Imam Ali. The incident happened on Thursday, a day before the holy Ashura. Al-Jazeera news
According to the country’s interior ministry, an explosion took place on a motorcycle next to a taxi near Sayeda Zainab’s shrine. It is the most visited Shia Muslim pilgrimage site in Syria. The ministry called it a ‘terrorist bombing’.
Earlier, the country’s state television reported that unidentified people planted a bomb in a taxi and caused the explosion. Al-Jazeera, however, could not verify the casualty figures and the circumstances surrounding the explosion.
“We heard a big explosion,” Ibrahim, a 39-year-old government official, told AFP. Later I saw people running. Ambulances then arrived and security forces cordoned off the area.
He also said that the blast took place near a security building about 600 meters away from the shrine of Sayeda Sayeda Zainab, the granddaughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and daughter of Imam Ali.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the explosion occurred near positions of Iranian militias, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Syria’s 13th year of ongoing conflict.