On Wednesday, during a military college graduation ceremony in the western Syrian city of Homs, drones carrying bombs struck, resulting in a devastating incident. Syria’s Minister of Health revealed that the attack killed over 80 people, including women and children, and left hundreds more injured.
The incident has not yet been claimed by any perpetrator. The defense ministry previously accused “terrorist organizations supported by well-known international parties.”
The strike, according to the Syrian armed forces, was “unprecedented,” and they vowed to reply “with full force and determination,” admonishing that those responsible for its planning and execution “will pay dearly.”
The Minister Hassan Al-Ghobash said, “In a preliminary toll, the terrorist act that targeted the graduation ceremony of students at the Military College in Homs led to the death of 80 martyrs, including 6 children, and the number of injured was 240. There were dozens of wounded soldiers with critical injuries among the invited families, including women and children, in addition to a number of college students participating in the graduation.”
Intense fights took place in 2012 between regime forces and opposition fighters attempting to overthrow President Bashar Al Assad in the ancient city of Homs, formerly known as the capital of the Syrian revolution. When the rebels abandoned the city in 2014 following a two-year siege, the regime seized control of it.
The city, which is situated in central Syria’s agricultural region, has long been a major transportation and economic center. The highway that passes through Homs links Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, in the north with the capital, Damascus, in the south.
In the same vein, more than eight people were killed on the other side of the country (Syria) on Thursday by Turkish airstrikes, which initially targeted Kurdish-owned areas of northeastern Syria. This was explained according to a statement released by Kurdish security operatives around the region.
Asayish, who happens to be the Kurdish internal security force, stated, “The Turkish state launched on Thursday a series of attacks on our regions with more than 15 drones penetrating the airspace of northeastern Syria and again targeted many positions, infrastructure, service facilities, and gas and oil stations, which resulted in death and injuries. To note that its aggression also affected areas populated by civilians.”
In response to a deadly explosion that occurred in the Turkish capital on Sunday, the Turkish military has begun a series of airstrikes against Kurdish sites in Syria and Iraq. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the government and is regarded as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, claimed responsibility for the attack in Ankara.