Fresh Terrorist Bombings in Damascus Widely Condemned

CAPITALS, (ST)- The new coward terrorist blasts which targeted today the Justice palace and a restaurant in Damascus received wide condemnation and were seen as a desperate attempt by the terrorists to cover their defeat in several Syrian areas the terrorists and  to foil the political process aiming to find solution to the crisis in Syria.

 In Moscow, Russia strongly condemned the terrorist attacks which hit Damascus on Wednesday and were carried out deliberately to coincide with the third round of international consultations on Syria in Kazakh capital Astana.

 Earlier in the day, a suicide bomber caused an explosion in the Palace of Justice in Damascus killing at least 35 and injuring 60. Later, a second explosion occurred in a restaurant resulting in injuries of 20 people.

“We condemn these new atrocities by terrorists, clearly planned to coincide with the third round of international talks on Syria in Astana. We extend condolences to the families of the victims, and wish speedy recovery to the injured,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday, according to Sputnik.

The two explosions on Wednesday took place four days after a deadly twin suicide blast in Damascus. On Saturday, two blasts occurred near Bab al-Saghir cemetery in Damascus. Syrian Interior Minister Mohammad Shaar confirmed that at least 40 people were killed and 120 injured as a result of the attack.

Blasts Meant to downplay terrorists’ losses in battlefield

Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi condemned the Damascus terrorist attacks in the strongest term.

According to Press TV, Qassemi said such indiscriminate attacks were meant to downplay the terrorists’ losses in the battlefield.

“The blood-sucking terrorists in Iraq and Syria are breathing their last thanks to the army, popular forces and resistance fighters battling terrorism,” Qassemi said, adding, “Undoubtedly such inhumane and atrocious measures will not give them a new life.”

‘Coward attacks’

Scott Rickard, a former American intelligence linguist from Tampa, described the attacks as “coward”, saying they are desperate attempts by the militants after the losses they suffered on the ground.

 “I think these are acts of desperation by very Salafist, very extremist-based individuals who see that they cannot fight any longer on the battlefield and now have taken it to the very reckless and cowardly attacks on innocent civilians,” Rickard told Press TV.

 He noted that the terrorists have resorted to disguised bombers due to the tightened security measures imposed by the Syrian forces.

“The Palace of Justice was hit almost five years ago by giant car bombs. So, obviously car bombing has been curtailed due to the measures taken by [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad and his military and security forces,” the analyst said.

 “But unfortunately suicide bombs are very difficult [to conduct], and unfortunately this individual who did go to the Palace of Justice was dressed as a military soldier,” he added.

Hezbollah Denounces Dual Crime Committed by Terrorists in Damascus

In Beirut, Hezbollah condemned the dual crime committed on Wednesday in Damascus by the terrorist gangs as two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the Justice Palace and at a restaurant, killing and injuring dozens of judges, lawyers and innocent civilians. According to al-Manar TV website.

Hezbollah said, in a statement, that this terrorist crime synchronizes with the anniversary of the conspiracy targeting the Syrian state and people since 2011, adding that it also confirms that foreign criminal schemes are being implemented at some locals’ hands .

The party pointed out that this terrorist crime is a failed act which responds to the great victories achieved by the Syrian army and its allies on many fronts across the country against Takfiri terrorism and armed criminals.

Hezbollah called for isolating and eliminating those sinful groups in order to give the steadfast Syrians an opportunity to restore their normal life, to reactivate institutions and to retrieve Syria’s role in the Arab nation and the world.

An Attempt by Terrorists to Destroy Evidence of Crimes’

In Damascus, Syrian Minister of Justice Najm al-Ahmad told Sputnik Arabic that the explosion at the Palace of Justice in Damascus was an attempt by terrorists to destroy evidence of their crimes,

Such actions on the part of terrorists are not surprising because they speak the language of murders, explosions and destruction, al-Ahmad said.

According to the minister, the suicide bomber who carried out a terrorist attack on the Palace of Justice wanted to destroy documents and evidence of the crimes committed by Daesh in Syria.

 Attacks in Damascus Aim to Disrupt Syrian Settlement

A wave of terrorist attacks in Damascus on Wednesday is aimed to disrupt the process of Syrian national reconciliation and search of political solution of the crisis, Syria’s Minister for National Reconciliation Ali Haidar said.

“The main goal of these terrorist attacks is to hit the stability and safety of nationals, as well as the concept of national reconciliation and the political solution,” Haidar told on air of a state television broadcaster.

H.M