Car bomb kills five but violence ebbs as Eid begins

Published on 27/10/2012 00:24

A powerful car bomb exploded in Damascus yesterday. State television said the “terrorist” attack killed five people and wounded 32.

Opposition activists said the bomb went off near a playground built for the three-day Eid al-Adha holiday – which marks Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son to Allah – in the southern Daf al-Shok district. Fighting continued across Syria as both rebels and troops loyal to president Bashar al-Assad appeared to violate a truce brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, but the violence seemed less intense than usual. The Islamic group Jabhat al-Nusra, which is fighting alongside the rebels and has rejected the ceasefire, has claimed responsibility for several past bomb attacks.

The group yesterday clashed with government troops at a military base outside Maaret al-Numan, on the road between Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo.

Dominic Evans