2011 Damascus bombings

Terrorist incident in Syria January 2020 2011 Damascus bombings the Syrian Civil War Damascus, Syria 23 December 2011 EET UTC+2 Car bombs, shooting 44 166 On 23 December 2011, two seemingly coordinated bombings occurred in the Syrian capital Damascus. The alleged suicide car bombs exploded outside Syrian military intelligence agency buildings, killing 44 people and injuring 166. According to Syrian state media, most of the dead were civilians. The attacks took place during the Syrian revolution. The Syrian government blamed Islamist militants, while the Syrian opposition accused the government of staging the attacks to justify its crackdown on the uprising. Background December 2011 On the same day as the attacks, an Arab League team of observers arrived in Syria to monitor the government's activities and push towards a solution of the nine-month uprising against the government. Officials from the visiting team later visited the sites of both explosions.http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/arab-league-team-visit-damascus-blast-sites-tv/ https://archive.today/20120912213456/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/arab-league-team-visit-damascus-blast-sites-tv/ dead 12 September 2012 Arab League team visit Damascus blast sites – TV Reuters 23 December 2011 23 December 2011 Government officials escorted the team to the scene of the explosions and reiterated their longtime claims that the uprising was not a popular one but the work of terrorists.Press, Associated. (21 September 2011) Syria: Twin Suicide Bombs Shake Capital, 30 DeadJune 2017 InternetArchiveBot yes . Salon.com. Retrieved on 24 December 2011. Bombings The bombings occurred in the Kfar Sousa neighbourhood, south-west of Damascus city center. The state-owned news channel, al-Ikhbariya al-Suriya, said the first car bomb exploded outside the offices of an unspecified security agency."UN Security Council condemns Syria suicide attacks". BBC News. 24 December 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011. When guards at a nearby General Security Directorate compound went to inspect the first blast, the driver of another vehicle rammed the main gates and detonated the bomb it was carrying. According to a Syrian journalist who lives in Kfar Sousa, gunfire was heard immediately following the blasts and windows up to 200 m (670 ft) away were shattered. The bombings killed 44 people and injured 166."Muslim Brotherhood denies Syria bombing claim". Agence France-Presse. 24 December 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011. Syrian state media reported that most of the casualties were civilians.http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/forty-killed-100-wounded-in-damascus-blasts--tv/ https://archive.today/20130416003457/http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/forty-killed-100-wounded-in-damascus-blasts--tv/ dead 16 April 2013 Forty killed, 100 wounded in Damascus blasts -TV Reuters 23 December 2011 23 December 2011 Perpetrators Al-Qaeda Immediately, the Syrian government claimed that al-Qaeda was behind these attacks. That Syrian claim was dismissed within a day by Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird as propaganda. Also the Syrian National Council dismissed it, as Syrian attempt to stoke Western fears for Islamist and extremist elements in the Syrian uprising.http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/archives/story.html?id=24b81365-2b0b-471f-9242-419ca99e19fd https://archive.today/20120919185735/http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/archives/story.html?id=24b81365-2b0b-471f-9242-419ca99e19fd dead 19 September 2012 Baird dismisses claim al-Qaida responsible for attacks Vancouver Sun Canada 24 December 2011 29 August 2015 Jabhat al-Nusra In January 2013, commentator Jamie Dettmer for website The Daily Beast stated that the Al-Nusra Front perpetrated the attack, and that the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center assumed it to be carried out by two female suicide bombers from Iraq.‘Jihadists Are Creeping Into Syria’s Rebel Factions’. The Daily Beast, 4 January 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2015. Syrian government Syrian opposition leaders accused the government of staging the attacks to justify its crackdown on the uprising.Syria says twin suicide bombings in Damascus kill 44. Bbc.co.uk. 23 December 2011. Retrieved on 24 December 2011. Also former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri claimed the bombings were "engineered" by the Syrian government.Syria: 'bomb attacks' in Damascus – Friday 23 December. Guardian. 23 December 2011. Retrieved on 24 December 2011. The Free Syrian Army (FSA), the main anti-regime paramilitary group, accused the government of perpetrating the attack to gain sympathy from the Arab League and its observers, who had arrived just before the bombings.Free Syrian Army Chief of Staff blames regime for twin blasts. Nowlebanon.com. 24 December 2011. Retrieved on 24 December 2011. The Syrian National Council said "the Syrian regime, alone, bears all the direct responsibility for the two terrorist explosions", adding that the government wanted to create the impression "that it faces danger coming from abroad and not a popular revolution demanding freedom and dignity". The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in Iraq that operates throughout the Middle East, on 28 December 2011 denied all involvement in the suicide attacks, and called the regime's blame on al-Qaeda an attempt to deflect attention from its own brutal crackdown on protesters: "The only truly responsible for them is he who is benefiting from them (...) the regime of al Assad and his intelligence agencies".Adbullah Azzam Brigades denies responsibility for Damascus suicide attacks – The Long War Journal http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/12/adbullah_azzam_briga.php https://web.archive.org/web/20120213233010/http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/12/adbullah_azzam_briga.php 13 February 2012 live 28 December 2011 29 August 2015 Syrian intelligence Mohammed Tayfour – the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's 'Deputy Guide'—told Al Arabiya television that Syrian intelligence created a fake MB website and published a fake statement."Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood denies claiming responsibility for Damascus bombings" https://web.archive.org/web/20111225042710/http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/12/24/184312.html 25 December 2011 . Al Arabiya. 24 December 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011."Syrian Muslim Brotherhood denies claims of involvement in Damascus blasts" https://web.archive.org/web/20111227095503/http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=346074#ixzz1hS9zXkRK 27 December 2011 . Now Lebanon. 24 December 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011. He also said that, according to sources close to the Brotherhood, Syrian intelligence was behind the bombings.Breaking: Syrian Muslim Brotherhood claim of carrying out bombings 'fake'. English.ahram.org.eg. 24 December 2011. Retrieved on 24 December 2011. See also List of bombings during the Syrian civil war References 30em 2011 Category:Spree shootings in Syria Category:Suicide car and truck bombings in Syria Category:Terrorist incidents in Syria in 2011 Category:Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving al-Nusra Front Category:December 2011 in Syria Category:2011 murders in Syria Category:Suicide bombings in 2011 Category:Building bombings in Damascus Category:Mass murders in Damascus Category:2011 mass murders Category:Car and truck bombings in 2011 Category:21st-century mass murders in Syria Category:December 2011 crimes in Asia Category:2011 building bombings Category:Attacks on military installations in Syria Category:Attacks on military installations in 2011 Category:2010s vehicle-ramming attacks Category:Terrorist incidents involving vehicular attacks in Asia