- Title: Bombs kill nearly 150 in Syrian government-held cities - monitor
- Date: 23rd May 2016
- Summary: JABLEH, LATAKIA PROVINCE, SYRIA (MAY 23, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BUS STATION DESTROYED IN THE BLAST AREA CORDONED OFF WITH YELLOW TAPE / PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND DAMAGED VEHICLES VARIOUS OF INCINERATED VEHICLES AT THE STATION / PEOPLE INSPECTING DAMAGE VARIOUS OF DESTROYED VEGETABLE STALLS PEOPLE GATHERED NEAR DESTROYED VEHICLE VARIOUS OF FORKLIFT TRUCK REMOVING DESTROYED VEHICLE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) EYEWITNESS, MOHAMAD MUTHLEJ, SAYING: "I got here and once I parked the explosion happened. I was standing here. There was a car behind me that got burnt. I saw martyrs on the ground. I couldn't get my car out or anything. Thank god after all. But this is not destiny, these are terrorist acts." EXTERIOR OF NATIONAL HOSPITAL SIGN OUTSIDE HOSPITAL READING (Arabic): "EMERGENCY" VARIOUS OF DESTRUCTION IN HOSPITAL CAUSED BY BOMBS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) EYEWITNESS, BASSEN AL-HASSAN, SAYING: "We went to help the injured. Once we got closer to the car, an explosion took place inside the hospital. When the explosion took place we returned back for five minutes. A girl exploded herself in the emergency department in the hospital. When we knew that we went back to help the injured and martyrs and we started to move them in ambulances to private hospitals." WOMAN'S SHOE AND BREAD STREWN ON THE FLOOR DESTROYED WHEELCHAIR OUTSIDE HOSPITAL/ ARMED MEN ENTERING BUILDING
- Embargoed: 7th June 2016 18:27
- Keywords: Jableh explosions blasts coast wreckage Tartous suicide bombs Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
- Location: JABLEH, LATAKIA PROVINCE, SYRIA
- City: JABLEH, LATAKIA PROVINCE, SYRIA
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies
- Reuters ID: LVA0014J15UTJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Bomb blasts killed nearly 150 people and wounded at least 200 in Jableh and Tartous on Syria's Mediterranean coast on Monday (May 23) in the government-controlled territory that hosts Russian military bases, monitors and state media said.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks in the cities that have up to now escaped the worst of the violence. It said it was targeting members of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite minority.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 148 people were killed in attacks by at least five suicide bombers and two devices planted in cars. State media had said 78 people had been killed in what is Assad's coastal heartland.
One of the four blasts in Jableh happened at a bus station and another at a hospital, the Observatory and state media said.
Footage broadcast on local media showed several twisted and burnt-out cars and minivans.
Islamic State claimed the attacks in a statement posted online by the group's Amaq news agency, saying its fighters had targeted "gatherings of Alawites".
At the hospital a Syrian, Bassen Al Hassan, who helped the injured get medical attention said the blast happened when a girl entered the emergency area and blew herself up.
"We went to help the injured. Once we got closer to the car, an explosion took place inside the hospital. When the explosion took place we returned back for five minutes. A girl exploded herself in the emergency department in the hospital. When we knew that we went back to help the injured and martyrs and we started to move them in ambulances to private hospitals," Hassan said.
The attacks were the first of their kind in Tartous, capital of Tartous province and home to a Russian naval facility, and in Jableh in Latakia province, near a Russian-operated air base.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his readiness to fight with the Syrian government against "the terrorist threat" and sent his condolences to Assad, the Kremlin said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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