Second blast hits Damascus after court attack: state TV

Another blast hits the Syrian capital's Rabweh area on Wednesday, after an earlier suicide attack targeted a central courthouse, state TV reported,

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

15 March, 2017

Wednesday's suicide attack at a central courthouse killed at least 25 people [AFP]

A second blast hit the Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday after a suicide attack at a central courthouse killed at least 25 people, state television reported.

"A terrorist explosion in the Rabweh area in Damascus," a breaking news alert on state television said, with no further details.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, the second wave of deadly attacks in the capital in less than a week after twin bombings killed at least 40 people on Saturday.

Wednesday's first attack saw a suicide bomber rush inside the building and blow himself up when police tried to prevent him from entering the courthouse in the center of Damascus, state media reported.

Citing a police source, state news agency SANA put the initial death toll at 25 and said there were many wounded.

The second blast hit not long after in the city's Rabweh area, an alert on state television said, but no further details were immediately available.

Damascus had already been reeling from Saturday's bombings, which mainly killed Iraqi nationals in the city. The government said they were pilgrims but some sources claimed many were militia fighters.

That attack was claimed by former al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, part of a rebel alliance that controls large parts of the northwestern Idlib province.