Damascus blasts: at least 71 dead

Damascus blasts: at least 71 dead

As BBC reports at least 71 people have died in blasts near the Shia shrine of Sayyida Zeinab, south of Syria’s capital Damascus.

It happened as the government and opposition groups gathered in Geneva in a bid to start talks aimed at a political solution to the conflict.

A bus station and a building housing military headquarters were hit by the blasts, which mangled nearby vehicles.

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged both sides to seize the opportunity to end the bloodshed.

Mr Kerry said there was “no military solution” to the spiralling crisis, which he warned could engulf the region if the tentative UN-sponsored negotiations fail as previous attempts have.

The blasts took place several hundred metres from the golden-domed shrine, which was not itself damaged – although it has been previously targeted, most recently in February last year.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that, of the 71 people killed, 42 were fighters loyal to the Assad regime. The group said another 29 civilians, including five children, died.

Mr Kerry had blunt words about the regime’s tactics, saying they ran directly counter to the rules of war by forcing residents to choose between surrendering or starving in towns such as Madaya.

The so-called proximity talks are expected to last six months, with delegations sitting in separate rooms and UN officials shuttling between them.

 

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