| New York Times | - |
BEIRUT,
Lebanon - A large explosion killed at least 42 people inside a central
Damascus mosque on Thursday, including the top Sunni cleric in Syria, one of the major remaining Sunni supporters of President Bashar al-Assad's embattled government in the ...
Senior cleric, others killed in Syria mosque bombing
-
-
Comments2
In this undated photo
released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Sheik Muhammad Bouti
speaks at a news conference. The Sunni Muslim cleric and longtime
supporter of President Bashar Assad was killed Thursday in a bombing at
the Iman Mosque in Damascus, Syria.
(Unknown / Associated Press)
|
ANTAKYA, Turkey
-- A senior pro-government Sunni Muslim cleric was killed in the Syrian
capital Thursday night when an explosion struck the mosque where he had
been giving a lecture.
More than a dozen other people were killed in the blast at the Iman Mosque in Damascus in what appeared to be a targeted assassination of Sheik Muhammad Bouti.
[Updated 3:49 p.m. March 21: The state-run news agency said the bombing killed 42 people, including the 84-year-old cleric and his grandson, and injured 84. The official news service said a suicide bomber blew himself up while the cleric was giving a religious lesson.]
The cleric had been a prominent supporter of President Bashar Assad since the uprising against the Syrian leader began two years ago. Bouti was imam of the ancient Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
As has become common with such attacks, the regime and opposition traded blame. State news media said the attack was a "suicide terrorist explosion." The government refers to all opposition members as terrorists.
The Free Syrian Army rebels denied responsibility and said that targeting houses of worship was not part of their strategy.
ALSO:
Jailed Kurdish leader calls for truce with Turkey
Hackers who hit South Korea used an old tactic
Alleged chemical attack in Syria remains a mystery
More than a dozen other people were killed in the blast at the Iman Mosque in Damascus in what appeared to be a targeted assassination of Sheik Muhammad Bouti.
[Updated 3:49 p.m. March 21: The state-run news agency said the bombing killed 42 people, including the 84-year-old cleric and his grandson, and injured 84. The official news service said a suicide bomber blew himself up while the cleric was giving a religious lesson.]
The cleric had been a prominent supporter of President Bashar Assad since the uprising against the Syrian leader began two years ago. Bouti was imam of the ancient Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
As has become common with such attacks, the regime and opposition traded blame. State news media said the attack was a "suicide terrorist explosion." The government refers to all opposition members as terrorists.
The Free Syrian Army rebels denied responsibility and said that targeting houses of worship was not part of their strategy.
ALSO:
Jailed Kurdish leader calls for truce with Turkey
Hackers who hit South Korea used an old tactic
Alleged chemical attack in Syria remains a mystery
No comments:
Post a Comment