2023-10-06 06:12:21
The Syrian government declares 3 days of mourning for the victims of the Military College
Before the details of the attack on the Military College in the city of Homs became clear and the numbers of casualties were counted, the Syrian forces launched a violent attack on the positions of the opposition organizations in Idlib Governorate, northwestern Syria.
Media sources reported that about 30 sites were bombed in the cities and towns of Idlib Governorate. Follow-up sources in Damascus said that the attack on the Military College would constitute a turning point in the course of military events on the ground. Damascus favored opening all fronts against Idlib, combing the desert, and reshuffling the hot cards to impose a new reality.
Before the families of the graduates of the Military College in Homs finished congratulating their children, drones were hovering above their heads, and then an explosion sounded, the sound of which was heard in the western neighborhoods of the city of Homs.
#hummusA circulating video clip shows the first moments of targeting the Military College in the city #hummus By a drone of unknown origin. pic.twitter.com/dugzf47Gkc
– Akkad Aljbal (@aljbalakad93) October 5, 2023
Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the plane targeted one of the college buildings, while residents were taking souvenir photos after the end of the celebration for the graduation of the batch of officers and non-commissioned officers on Thursday. The bombing led to the fall and injury of dozens of graduates and families.
On Thursday, the Syrian government declared a 3-day mourning period after the Syrian Military College was targeted, and flags were flown at half-mast throughout the country and in all embassies and diplomatic bodies abroad throughout this period.
The death toll from targeting a graduation ceremony for officer cadets at the Military College in Homs, according to the Observatory, rose to 112 dead, including 21 civilians, including 11 women and girls with officers’ relatives, and more than 120 were injured, including dozens of civilians, some of whom are in critical condition, which makes it likely that the death toll will rise. While ambulances continue to transport the dead and injured from the site of the bombing.
A military parade at the Military College in Homs before it was targeted by marches, Thursday (SANA)
The sources said that the numbers were large because the families and those invited to the ceremony were gathering after the end of the ceremony to exchange congratulations and take pictures. Some of them were receiving comments and interactions on the photos broadcast from the party, via social media, when the attack occurred.
The General Command of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces, which did not provide a figure on the number of casualties and injuries, accused “armed terrorist organizations” of carrying out the attack. She said that these organizations are “supported by well-known international parties,” without naming them.
The General Command said, in a statement, that the attack occurred on Thursday afternoon on “the graduation ceremony of military college officers’ students in Homs, via marches carrying explosive ammunition, immediately after the end of the ceremony.” The attack resulted in “a number of martyrs, both civilians and soldiers, and dozens of injuries, including critical injuries among the invited families, including women and children, in addition to a number of college students participating in the graduation.”
It considered that “this cowardly terrorist act is an unprecedented criminal act,” stressing that it “will respond with full force and decisiveness to these terrorist organizations, wherever they are located, and stresses that the planners and implementers of this act will be held accountable, for which they will pay dearly.” According to the statement.
The Russian news agency (Sputnik) quoted a high-ranking security source denying the presence of Syrian Defense Minister Major General Ali Mahmoud Abbas at the moment of the explosion inside the campus of the College of Military Sciences in Homs. He said that the Minister of Defense attended the ceremony and left the Military College immediately after the ceremony ended, “while the terrorist attack occurred 21 minutes after the Minister of Defense left the Military College.”
Pro-government news pages reported that the number of victims of the attack had risen to more than 100 people, and dozens were injured, including those in critical condition, which makes it likely that the final toll will rise. Pages and media outlets close to the government also reported that a large number of ambulances headed to the site.
The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told the media that the attack resulted in more than 120 deaths and injuries, coinciding with the flight of marches over the Military College in Homs, and that more than 11 deaths were recorded in one hospital, including a civilian woman, The rest are officers, and there may be civilians among them… pointing out that Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, ISIS, and Iranian militias have marches in those areas, ruling out that Israel was behind the attack, because it has never attacked targets like this, as it usually targets warehouses. Weapons or sites belonging to Iran or the Lebanese Hezbollah, and he did not rule out the possibility that the explosion occurred as a result of a mistake.
The 1st aftermath footage from #Homs Military College is out & its grim — many civilian casualties, including children.The drone clearly hit a stand intended for VIP guests, but 20-30mins after the ceremony ended. Dozens of bodies across the ground. pic.twitter.com/2MkYEsIxss
— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) October 5, 2023
On Thursday, a graduation ceremony took place at the Military College in Homs, in the center of the country, in the presence of high-ranking officers, including the Minister of Defense. After the ceremony ended, a violent explosion sounded, followed by a major security alert in Homs, coinciding with the flight of regime warplanes and helicopters, which took off from the T4 and Shayrat airports in the region’s airspace.
After the Homs attack, government forces bombed about 30 sites in the cities and towns of Idlib Governorate, and the Ministry of Defense in Damascus announced, on Tuesday, that it was within the framework of operations to monitor and follow up on the movements of “opposition armed groups, and to respond to their repeated attacks on safe villages and towns and military points in In the Hama and Idlib countryside, militant headquarters, fortifications, and artillery positions were targeted, which led to the destruction of those headquarters and fortifications, in addition to the destruction of a number of mortars, and the killing and wounding of a number of members of the Ansar al-Tawhid organization. Two drones were also destroyed and shot down in the northern Aleppo countryside.”
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