Policeman killed in vehicle bombing in Damascus

 

In a vehicle bomb attack on a police station in Damascus on Wednesday, a Syrian policeman was killed and four other people were injured. Daesh claimed responsibility for the incident.

According to the Syrian Interior Ministry, a car explosion at the Barzeh police station in the capital's north resulted in the death of a lieutenant colonel and the injuries of four other people.

It added in a statement that "investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances of the incident" and posted pictures of a burnt-out, badly damaged car.

In a statement sent to its Telegram channels, Daesh subsequently claimed responsibility for the incident, claiming that one of its militants had "managed to plant and detonate an explosive device on a vehicle inside a police station."

It was an uncommon jihadist assault on Damascus, which had generally avoided such carnage in previous years, especially after the government recaptured the final rebel stronghold in the city in 2018.

However, there are sporadic security events in Damascus, including explosions that target military or civilian vehicles.

In the nation, where the security situation is precarious more than 12 years after its civil war broke, people occasionally take part in personal conflicts or score-settling, according to the Observatory.

At least 24 troops were killed in a bombing on a bus carrying Syrian military close to Damascus in October 2022.

That incident was linked to Daesh cells by the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Interior Ministry reported that two individuals were just mildly hurt in an unclaimed vehicle explosion that shook another Damascus neighbourhood last month, according to state media.