DAMASCUS: An explosion at a weapons depot in northwest Syria’s Idlib province killed five people and wounded nine others on Wednesday, security forces said in a statement.
The Idlib region was a bastion of rebel and militant groups during the civil war that ended in December last year with the overthrow of Bashar Assad.
The explosion in the town of Kafr Takharim was “caused by a warehouse containing missiles and ammunition, and occurred due to work underway” at a site nearby, the Idlib security forces said, adding that five site workers were killed.
State television reported the same toll, without saying what caused the blast.
Nine other people were injured, the security forces added.
Images circulating online showed widespread destruction, fire and damage to farmland, while videos showed shrapnel reaching shops and residential buildings.
In August, four people were killed in an explosion at a weapons depot on the outskirts of Idlib, authorities said.
Blast at arms depot kills five in northwest Syria: security forces
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Blast at arms depot kills five in northwest Syria: security forces
- Nine other people were injured, the security forces added
Syrian Interior Ministry foils terror plot, arrests cell members
- Security forces make arrests as cell attempts to set up Grad-type rocket launchers for attacking populated areas
- Investigations reveal suspects were planning more attacks, had contact with external groups
LONDON: Syria’s Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday that it had thwarted a planned attack in the Mezzeh area of Damascus and had arrested more members of a terror cell preparing strikes on populated areas of the capital.
Security forces arrested members of the cell as they attempted to set up Grad-type rocket launchers. They, along with other cell members arrested last week, are accused of attacks targeting the Mezzeh area and a nearby military airport.
Forces seized the launching platforms before they could be used. Investigations revealed that the suspects were planning more attacks and had contact with external groups, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
The ministry announced earlier this month the arrest of members of a terror cell linked to attacks in the Mezzeh area and its military airport, after weeks of surveillance of rocket launching sites in Daraya and Kafr Souseh.
Authorities from the Syrian Arab Republic said that the launching platforms and drones used by the cell in the attacks had been sourced from Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah, the SANA added.
