Terrorist Bombing Rocks Damascus: 14 Killed, 146 Injured

Local Editor

A massive suicide car bomb ripped through the heart of Damascus on Monday, killing at least 15 people and littering a central street with dead bodies and the carcasses of charred cars.
"Terrorists detonate car bomb between Sabaa Bahrat Square and Shahbander Street," state television reported, adding that initial information suggested it had been a suicide attack.

"The preliminary toll from the terrorist bombing... is more than 15 martyrs and 53 injuries," the broadcaster added.

Meanwhile, the blast caused extensive damage and that intense gunfire was heard shortly afterwards. The blast damaged the AFP Damascus office, blowing out the windows, but no staff were hurt.
State television broadcast scenes of devastation as huge plumes of thick black smoke billowed up around buildings in the area, partly obscuring them.
Dozens of vehicles were damaged, some crumpled almost beyond recognition, others with their windows blown out or cracked by the blast. Several were completely gutted, only their charred chassis remaining.

Firefighters rushed to the area, attempting to control blazes started by the explosion, which one state broadcaster said took place near a school, adding that children were believed to be among the dead and wounded.

The footage showed bloodied bodies with limbs askew and chunks of flesh strewn on the streets, with bystanders draping clothes or cardboard boxes over them.
One group of men worked to retrieve a body from a badly damaged yellow taxi, tugging at its jammed doors. A veiled woman wept as she walked from the scene, passing a man holding a terrified, sobbing young girl.
"I was in the street with my colleague when the ground shook beneath our feet," 32-year-old Anana told AFP, not far from Sabaa Bahrat Square.
"People started to scream 'explosion, explosion' and we saw a cloud of thick, black smoke emerge from the scene of the attack."
"We have to stop this bloodbath! When we leave home we don't know if we'll return alive," sobbed Mayssa, who worked near the scene of the blast.

"We say to those behind these attacks that the Syrian people... will move forward to crush these armed terrorist gangs," Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi said, speaking to media at the scene.

The attack, which was not claimed by any group, occurred near the Syrian central bank, and security forces and the army quickly moved into the area to prevent people from approaching the site of the attack.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org