From Akram: "For
the first time ever since the unrest erupted in Syria 19 months ago, a terrorist
attack has struck Bab Touma Square in Damascus when a huge blast shook the area
at 11 in the morning> The explosion was a result of a bomb implanted under a
car that was parking there according to Sana, the state-run news agency that
said 13 people were killed and 29 others injured. The sound
of the explosion could be heard from hundred meters away and tens of ambulances
could be seen leaving the explosion scene to transport the victims to the
hospitals, especially the nearby St. Louis hospital which alone received 13 of
them. So far no one has claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Bab
Touma is one of the main entrances to the Old Town, and located at the
intersection of a number of quarters resided mainly by the Christian minority in
Syria. In most days, the square witnesses great congestion in this time of the
day due to the presence of a number of shops and few public facilities (the
police station, customer care center of both electricity and drinking water), a
major bus station that attracts a large number of employees heading to their
jobs, a number of nearby schools and a café that is usually overcrowded on
Sunday morning.
The
terrorist attack of Bab Touma comes after a long day that witnessed a fierce
fighting with machineguns and heavy weapons in the eastern suburbs of Damascus
(Jobar, Ain Tarma, Kabbass) and lasted to the late hours of yesterday
evening
Amazingly, days before the attack, the residents of the
neighborhood were exchanging rumors about the possibility of the occurrence of
such an attack and many refrained from sending their children to schools last
Friday"
