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At least 40 Iraqis have been killed and 120 injured in twin explosions near religious shrines frequented by Shiite pilgrims in the Syrian capital Damascus, according to the Iraqi foreign ministry.
Key Points:
- Attack occurred at a bus station where pilgrims were gathered
- Syria's Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar visited the injured in local hospitals
- Death toll is likely to rise because dozens were wounded in the blast
The attack took place at a bus station where the pilgrims had been brought to visit the nearby Bab al-Saghir cemetery, named after one of the seven gates of the Old City of Damascus.
Syrian State TV aired footage from the scene showing blood-soaked streets and several damaged buses.
The second blast went off some 10 minutes after the first, inflicting casualties on civil defence workers who had gathered to tend to the victims, said the Damascus correspondent for Lebanon's Hezbollah-run al-Manar.
The cemetery is one of the capital's oldest and is where several prominent religious figures are buried.
The pilgrims were due to pray at the cemetery after visiting the Sayeda Zeinab shrine just outside Damascus, he said.
Sayeda Zeinab - the granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad - is venerated by Shi'ites and her shrine is a site of mass pilgrimage for Shiites from across the world.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been supported in the country's war by Shi'ite militias from countries including Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.
Iran has backed Mr Assad in the conflict that erupted in 2011.
The Lebanese group Hezbollah is also fighting in support of Assad.
Syria's Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar visited the injured in local hospitals.
Mr al-Shaar said the attacks targeted civilians, including Arab visitors, who were frequenting the shrines in the area.
Iraqi Shiites often visit shrines in Syria. Iranians and other Shiites from Asia are often also among the pilgrims to the area.
What caused the explosions?
There were conflicting reports on what caused the explosions.
Syrian state news agency SANA said the blasts were caused by bombs placed near the cemetery and that at least 33 were killed and more than a hundred wounded.
Lebanon's al-Manar TV quoted Syrian officials saying 40 were killed in twin suicide attacks.
Arab TV Al-Mayadeen said at least 40 people were killed and the area was sealed by security after the explosions.
Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group with activists on the ground, said at least 46 were killed in the explosions that targeted buses arriving near the cemetery.
The Observatory said the death toll is likely to rise because dozens were wounded in the blast.
A similar attack in the capital, claimed by Islamic State militants, targeted one of the most revered Shiite shrines in the capital last year.
AP/Reuters
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, terrorism, world-politics, syrian-arab-republic