Bombings in southern Damascus district kill at least 83

DAMASCUS, Syria (CCTV) — A series of bomb blasts that rocked a southern district of Damascus on Sunday has killed at least 83 people, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

As many as 178 others were injured in the three bombings that rocked the predominantly-Shiite district of Sayyidah Zaynab.

The first explosion was a car bomb, followed by two other suicide bombings.

The blasts took place close to the al-Sader Hospital in Teen Street in that sprawling district.

“I was sleeping at home upstairs when I heard the first blast. It happened right here. About five minutes later, when I was calling the ambulance here, the second bomb went off. A man detonated the bomb on his body. Another five to seven minutes later, a second man detonated his body bomb there. I was right here looking at him,” said Muhannad, a local resident.

Sayyidah Zaynab houses a key Shiite shrine that contains the tomb of Zaynab, Prophet Muhammad’s granddaughter.

The tomb is a center of religious studies for adherents of the Shiite sect of Islam, and is also a mass pilgrimage destination for Shiite Muslims from across the world.

The bombings are the latest in a series that targeted the district which is guarded by fighters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.

Last month, at least 45 people died and 100 others were wounded in two explosions in the same Shiite district.

Sunday’s bombings in Sayyidah Zaynab occurred just a few hours after a twin bombings that rocked the al-Zahra neighborhood, in the central city of Homs, killing around 60 people.

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