Car Bomb Attack Kills 18 in Damascus Suburb

A bomb explosion in the Syrian capital of Damascus killed 18 people on August 6, 2013., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Car bomb attack kills 18 in Damascus suburb

Tue Aug 6, 2013 9:27PM GMT

At least 18 people have been killed and scores injured in a car bomb attack in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus.

The bombing occurred in Jaramana suburb late on Tuesday night, the official SANA news agency reported.

"Terrorists blew up a car bomb with big quantities of explosives in the area which is crowded with inhabitants, claiming the lives of 18 citizens, among them 3 children, and injuring 56 others," a police official told SANA.

The death toll may rise as some of the injured are in critical condition, the official added.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Syrian officials say the main suspects are al-Nusra militants linked to al-Qaeda.

Jaramana neighborhood has been the main target of foreign-backed militants. Its majority Christian and Druze population support the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Tuesday’s bombing came as the Syrian Army maintains its edge over the militants fighting against the government.

The Syrian troops have recently conducted successful clean-up operations across the country, inflicting heavy losses on the extremists.

The Syrian Army’s push against the militants rattled their sponsors.

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said on June 26 that Saudi Arabia is trembling with fear because of the Syrian Army’s recent gains against the militants.

In a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Jeddah on June 25, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal insisted that the militants in Syria must be armed with anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons.

Zoubi said that the Saudi weapons and money is the main reason behind bloodshed in Syria, adding that Faisal “is lost in the Syrian blood.”

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions of others displaced in the violence.