2008 Damascus car bombing

Infobox civilian attack
title = 2008 Damascus car bomb


caption =
location = Damascus, Syria
coordinates =
date = September 27, 2008
time = 8:45 a.m.cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/27/content_10122565.htm|title=Syria condemns Damascus car bombing as "cowardly terrorist act" |date=2008-09-27|publisher=Xinhua|accessdate=2008-09-27]
timezone = Local time
type =
fatalities = 17
injuries = 14cite news|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gp6gZV75vZLGdxlDQK2jDP-8LPHQD93F8RD80|title=Car bomb kills 17 in tightly controlled Syria|last=Aji|first=Albert|coauthors=Mroue, Bassem|date=2008-09-27|publisher=AP|accessdate=2008-09-27]
perps =
perp =
susperps = Unknown
susperp =
weapons = Car Bomb
motive =The 2008 Damascus car bombing is a car bombing that occurred on September 27, 2008 in the Syrian capital of Damascus. The explosion left 17 people dead and 14 injured.cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7639137.stm|title=Syrian 'car bomb' blast kills 17 |publisher=BBC|accessdate=2008-09-27] It was reported that a car, laden with 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of explosives detonated in the Sidi Kadad suburb of the capital, at approximately 8:45am.cite news|title=Car Bomb Kills 17 in Syria Near Intelligence Office|publisher=The New York Times|date=2008-09-27|accessdate=2008-09-29|last=Worth|first=Robert F.|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/world/middleeast/28syria.html?ref=middleeast] cite web|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jyDq5I4mxhpAEpJABoAW9jrKpPXA|title=17 killed by bomb in Damascus: Syrian TV|publisher=AFP|accessdate=2008-09-27] The blast occurred roughly 100 metres from a security installation on the road to Damascus International Airport at an intersection leading to the Sit Zeinab shrine, popular with Shi'ite pilgrims from Iran and Lebanon.Security forces cordoned off the area.cite web|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE48Q16320080927|title=Damascus car bomb blast kills 17: Syrian TV|publisher=Reuters|accessdate=2008-09-27] [cite news|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/world/10000321.asp?gid=244&sz=4887|title=ANALYSIS — Damascus car bomb another blow to Syrian security|last=Ladki|first=Nadim |coauthors=Nakhoul, Samia|publisher=Hurriyet|accessdate=2008-09-28]

It was the first major explosion in Syria since the car bomb assassination of Imad Mughniyah, a high ranking military commander in Hezbollah in February 2008,cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1024836.html|title=Car Bomb – Damascus|publisher=Haaretz|accessdate=2008-09-27] and also the most lethal bomb attack in Syria since 1996.cite news|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awKezODudySg&refer=home|title=Damascus Car Bomb Kills 17 Near Pilgrimage Shrine |last=Chmaytelli|first=Maher|date=2008-09-27|publisher=Bloomberg|accessdate=2008-09-27] It was the deadliest since a spate of attacks in the 1980s blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood left nearly 150 dead. [cite news|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jLdfYwXkqY779ZgcPI-Yc-bRrSBQ|title=Syria hunts for Damascus car bombers|date=2008-09-28|publisher=AFP|accessdate=2008-09-29]

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/09/200892764254693881.html|title=Several killed in Damascus bombing |publisher=aljazeera|accessdate=2008-09-27]

Such attacks are rare in Syria and the blast is being seen as the worst threat to national security in many years. [cite news
title=Syrian car bomb attack kills 17
first=
last=
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7639137.stm
date=2008-09-27
accessdate=2008-09-27
publisher=BBC News]

Background

The attack followed two politically-motivated assassinations in Syria that occurred in 2008. The first took place when Hezbollah member Imad Moughniyah was killed by a car bomb in February, 2008. The second occurred only a month before the car bombing in Damascus, when a high-ranking military officer and aide to President Bashar Assad [cite news|title=TV Car bomb explosion in Damascus kills 17 people|publisher=SouthernLedger|date=2008-09-27|accessdate=2008-09-29|url=http://www.southernledger.com/ap/178027/TV_Car_bomb_explosion_in_Damascus_kills_17_people] was killed in Tartous. [cite news|title=Damascus car bomb blast kills 17|last=Makdessi|first=Marwan|date=2008-09-27|accessdate=2008-09-29|publisher=Mirror.co.uk|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/2008/09/27/damascus-car-bomb-blast-kills-17-115875-20755869/]

Syria also experienced gun riots outside a prison near Damascus earlier in the year. These events were all highly irregular, as Syria maintains a generally well-held grip on internal security. The Damascus car bombing has contributed to public fear that internal instability or subterfuge may be fueling these unexpected events.

Target

Though the blast was believed to be targeted towards a senior intelligence official,http://www.monstersandcritics.com/articles/article_1433413.php/Car_bomb_targeted_senior_senior_security_official_-_report__3rd_Lead__] only civilians were killed. Others, including a traffic policeman were harmed in the attack. [cite news|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/DN-syria_28int.ART.State.Edition1.274f91c.html|title=Syrian car bomb kills 17|date=2008-09-28|publisher=Dallas Morning News|accessdate=2008-09-28] "Asharq Alawsat" reported that a brigadier-general was killed, also the building was used by the Palestine branch of Syrian Military Intelligence. [cite news |title='Top Syrian officer among bomb victims' |url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017413324&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |publisher=Jerusalem Post |date=2008-09-28 |accessdate=2008-09-28]

The official SANA news agency said authorities were conducting DNA tests to identify the attacker and that several people have been detained in connection with the attack. According to their report, the attacker belonged to a Muslim extremist group and that the car crossed into Syria from a neighboring Arab country.

Reaction

Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majeed condemned the car bombing as a "cowardly terrorist act.", and also said on state television that "we cannot accuse any party. There are ongoing investigations that will lead us to those who carried it out."

Foreign secretary David Miliband of the United Kingdom said, "Such acts of terrorism can have no justification, and must be condemned without reservation. My condolences and sympathies go out to all those who have suffered as a result of these atrocities." [cite news|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i_PuXVXzptSZXFEp-gYujnXWOMLg|title=Britain condemns Damascus and New Delhi blasts|date=2008-09-27|publisher=AFP|accessdate=2008-09-27]

France, Russia and the United States also condemned the bombing. [cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/28/syria.lebanon.bombing|title=Damascus car bomb kills 17|last=Prothero|first=Mitchell|coauthors=Beaumont, Peter|date=2008-09-28|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=2008-09-28]

Saudi Arabia, which has long had a tense relationship with Syria, is the only country in the Arab world which has not condemned the bombing, which has lead to suspicion that they were involved in it. [http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2008/09/syria_signs_of.php] [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JJ08Ak01.html]

ee also

*List of terrorist incidents, 2008

References