At least 14 Iranian officers killed in Damascus bus blast ???

 

At least 14 people were killed in central Damascus Wednesday morning in an explosion targeting a Syrian military bus, Syrian state TV reported. Several others were wounded in the apparent attack.

According to additional reports from Syrian and Lebanese outlets, the casualties were Iranian officers. At this stage, no organization has claimed responsibility.

Two explosive devices reportedly went off as the bus was on the Hafez al-Assad bridge, the report said, adding a third device was defused by an army engineering unit.

The attack was the deadliest in Damascus in years, and a rare event since government forces captured suburbs formerly held by insurgents in Syria's decade-long conflict.

Syrian state TV showed footage of the charred bus in central Damascus, saying the blasts occurred while people were heading to work and school.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred at a main bus transfer point under a bridge, where vehicles converge and head out to different neighborhoods of the capital.

"It is a cowardly act," Damascus police commander Maj. Gen. Hussein Jumaa told state TV, adding that a police force had cordoned off the area immediately and made sure there were no more bombs. He urged people to inform authorities about any suspicious object they see.

Such attacks in Damascus have been rare in recent years after government forces captured suburbs that were once held by Sunni Islamist insurgents.