News
Latest News
news bulletin
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Other News
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Beirut
21
o
Mount Lebanon
20
o
Metn
21
o
Keserwan
21
o
North
22
o
South
20
o
Bekaa
16
o
Live
Video
Audio
Schedule
shows
العربية
watching now
Morning Talk
SUBSCRIBE
Home
Notification
Live
Video
Audio
shows
Beirut
21
o
Mount Lebanon
20
o
Metn
21
o
Keserwan
21
o
North
22
o
South
20
o
Bekaa
16
o
News
Programs
The News
Breaking Headlines
Israel-Gaza War Updates
Variety and Tech
Sports News
Middle East News
World News
Lebanon News
Press Highlights
Lebanon Economy
News Bulletin Reports
Programs
Documentaries
Lebanon’s Centennial
News Bulletin
The Untold History
Talk Show
Series
Sports
Variety
Other
Comedy
Oldies
Breaking News
Latest News
Highlighted News
Most Read
Videos
العربية
Watch the latest programs and the latest developments on your favorite screen
Shows
Join millions of followers
Who We Are
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Careers
Channel frequencies
Privacy Policy
Terms and Conditions
REPORT: Bombs kill nearly 150 in Syrian government-held cities -monitor
Author:
Rita Khoury
Breaking Headlines
2016-05-23 | 03:11
High views
Share
Share
REPORT: Bombs kill nearly 150 in Syrian government-held cities -monitor
6
min
REPORT: Bombs kill nearly 150 in Syrian government-held cities -monitor
Bomb blasts killed nearly 150 people and wounded at least 200 in Jableh and Tartous on Syria’s Mediterranean coast on Monday 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 in the five-year-old conflict, saying 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.
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.
The Kremlin said the bomb blasts underscored the need to press ahead with Geneva peace talks after the collapse of a Feb. 27 ceasefire in April due to intensifying violence in a war that has killed at least 250,000 people.
“This demonstrates yet again just how fragile the situation in Syria is. And this one more time underscores the need for new urgent steps to continue the negotiating process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with journalists.
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.
The Syrian foreign ministry sent a letter to the United Nations, state television reported, saying the blasts were a “dangerous escalation by the hostile and extremist regimes in Riyadh, Ankara and Doha”, referring to support given to the rebels by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks and a spokesman said Ban took “note with great concern of the escalating military activity in many areas in and around Damascus”.
“BLOOD AND BODIES”
One of the four blasts in Jableh happened when a man walked into a hospital emergency department and blew himself up. Another blast was at a bus station. The Tartous bombs also targeted a bus station, the Observatory and state media said.
Younes Hassan, a doctor working at the Jableh hospital, said he heard an explosion at the bus station, followed less than a minute later by the blast at the hospital.
“Everything went into emergency mode, wounded people began arriving,” he told Reuters by phone.
The Tartous explosions also occurred in quick succession, no more than 10 seconds apart, a driver at the bus station said.
“People began running but didn’t know which direction to go, cars were on fire, there was blood and bodies on the ground,” Nizar Hamade said.
Footage broadcast by the state-run Ikhbariya news channel 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”.
Syria’s Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said in an interview with Ikhbariya that terrorists were resorting to bomb attacks against civilians instead of fighting on the front lines, and vowed to keep battling them.
The government refers to all insurgents fighting against it in the conflict as terrorists.
The Observatory said an area of Tartous hosting internally displaced Syrians near a blast site was briefly attacked by government supporters in reaction to the bombings. Some tents were burned but nobody was killed.
Tartous governor Safwan Abu Saadah told Reuters that reports on social media about refugees being shot and tents being burned down were not true. He said some Tartous residents had gone to refugee areas to protect them from possible attacks.
“Two days ago some camps in Tartous province experienced fires because of electrical problems ... today’s reports that people burned (these camps) are not true. Nobody would turn against our guests in this way,” Abu Saadah said.
Bombings in the capital Damascus and western city of Homs this year killed dozens of people and were also claimed by Islamic State, which is fighting against government forces and their allies in some areas, and separately against its jihadist rival al Qaeda and other insurgent groups.
Latakia city, which is north of Jableh and capital of the province, has been targeted on a number of occasions by bombings and insurgent rocket attacks, including late last year.
Government forces and their allies have recently stepped up bombardment of areas in Aleppo province in the north, which has become a focal point for the escalating violence. Insurgents have also launched major attacks in that area.
The only road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo city has suffered a week of increasingly heavy air strikes. Zakaria Malahefji, a senior official in the rebel group Fastaqim that operates in the Aleppo area told Reuters that the road was heavily bombarded again on Monday and was dangerous to use.
He said Iranian-backed fighters, who are supporting government forces, were mobilizing in the southern Aleppo area.
France’s foreign ministry called the Tartous and Jableh bombings “odious”, and said violence from all sides must stop if a political transition is to take place.
REUTERS
For more details, watch the full report in the video above.
Breaking Headlines
Syria
War
Jableh
Next
Grand Mufti Derian travels to Saudi Arabia for Hajj
Recommended For You
d-none hideMe
0
Lebanon News
2024-04-17
Israeli warplanes strike agricultural land near Baalbek: Three missiles launched
Lebanon News
2024-04-17
Israeli warplanes strike agricultural land near Baalbek: Three missiles launched
0
Middle East News
2024-04-16
Israeli army detects missile launches from Lebanon
Middle East News
2024-04-16
Israeli army detects missile launches from Lebanon
0
Lebanon News
2024-04-16
Breaking: Car targeted on Al-Majbal road in Ain Baal
Lebanon News
2024-04-16
Breaking: Car targeted on Al-Majbal road in Ain Baal
0
Middle East News
2024-04-15
Israeli response to Iranian attack expected soon: Israeli Broadcasting Corporation
Middle East News
2024-04-15
Israeli response to Iranian attack expected soon: Israeli Broadcasting Corporation
Subscribe to our VOD
SUBSCRIBE
Our visitors readings
d-none hideMe
0
Sports News
2023-07-13
LeBron James ends the controversy and confirms his unwillingness to retire
Sports News
2023-07-13
LeBron James ends the controversy and confirms his unwillingness to retire
0
Lebanon News
2023-12-30
Hezbollah mourns four martyrs from Lebanon’s Bekaa
Lebanon News
2023-12-30
Hezbollah mourns four martyrs from Lebanon’s Bekaa
0
News Bulletin Reports
2024-04-05
Waste sorting plant: Beirut and Mount Lebanon set to revive Karantina plant
News Bulletin Reports
2024-04-05
Waste sorting plant: Beirut and Mount Lebanon set to revive Karantina plant
0
Lebanon News
06:06
UNIFIL spokesperson affirms: Peacekeeping operations and civilian staff continue duties
Lebanon News
06:06
UNIFIL spokesperson affirms: Peacekeeping operations and civilian staff continue duties
Videos
d-none hideMe
0
Lebanon News
2023-12-11
Breaking: Israel launches raid north of Litani on Monday (Video)
Lebanon News
2023-12-11
Breaking: Israel launches raid north of Litani on Monday (Video)
0
Lebanon News
2023-11-02
Exclusive to LBCI: U.S. State Department's Wooster Stresses Lebanon Must Avoid War, Sees Renewed Push for Two-State Solution
Lebanon News
2023-11-02
Exclusive to LBCI: U.S. State Department's Wooster Stresses Lebanon Must Avoid War, Sees Renewed Push for Two-State Solution
0
Lebanon News
2023-10-18
Protests Erupt near US Embassy in Awkar Against Israeli Attacks on Al-Maamadani Hospital in Gaza
Lebanon News
2023-10-18
Protests Erupt near US Embassy in Awkar Against Israeli Attacks on Al-Maamadani Hospital in Gaza
0
Lebanon News
2023-10-05
ATFL's Ambassador Edward Gabriel on Navigating Through Economic, Political, and Refugee Crises
Lebanon News
2023-10-05
ATFL's Ambassador Edward Gabriel on Navigating Through Economic, Political, and Refugee Crises
0
Sports News
2023-08-31
Amir Saoud Powers Lebanon to Victory Over Cote d'Ivoire: A Deep Dive Into The Numbers
Sports News
2023-08-31
Amir Saoud Powers Lebanon to Victory Over Cote d'Ivoire: A Deep Dive Into The Numbers
0
Sports News
2023-08-29
France Edges Past Lebanon in a Nail-Biter at FIBA World Cup 2023: A Statistical Deep Dive
Sports News
2023-08-29
France Edges Past Lebanon in a Nail-Biter at FIBA World Cup 2023: A Statistical Deep Dive
0
Lebanon News
2019-02-28
Pierre el-Daher, the man who defeated the Lebanese Forces
Lebanon News
2019-02-28
Pierre el-Daher, the man who defeated the Lebanese Forces
Most read
d-none hideMe
24 hours
7 days
Month
1
Lebanon Economy
08:30
BDL initiates measures to promote electronic payments and reduce cash use
Lebanon Economy
08:30
BDL initiates measures to promote electronic payments and reduce cash use
2
Lebanon News
07:48
Video: LBCI's 'Marhaba Dawle' producer hands over props following legal battle
Lebanon News
07:48
Video: LBCI's 'Marhaba Dawle' producer hands over props following legal battle
3
News Bulletin Reports
12:26
Economic crisis: IMF awaits Lebanon's reforms
News Bulletin Reports
12:26
Economic crisis: IMF awaits Lebanon's reforms
4
Middle East News
07:20
Lufthansa extends suspension of flights to Tehran and Beirut until April 30: AFP
Middle East News
07:20
Lufthansa extends suspension of flights to Tehran and Beirut until April 30: AFP
5
News Bulletin Reports
12:08
US-Israel Agreement: Rafah Invasion Planned, Limited Response to Iran
News Bulletin Reports
12:08
US-Israel Agreement: Rafah Invasion Planned, Limited Response to Iran
6
Lebanon News
09:35
Élysée Palace: Macron to receive Lebanese Prime Minister and Army Commander on Friday
Lebanon News
09:35
Élysée Palace: Macron to receive Lebanese Prime Minister and Army Commander on Friday
7
Lebanon News
06:06
UNIFIL spokesperson affirms: Peacekeeping operations and civilian staff continue duties
Lebanon News
06:06
UNIFIL spokesperson affirms: Peacekeeping operations and civilian staff continue duties
8
Middle East News
00:06
Israeli missiles hit site in Iran, ABC News reports
Middle East News
00:06
Israeli missiles hit site in Iran, ABC News reports
Download now the LBCI mobile app
To see the latest news, the latest daily programs in Lebanon and the world
Google Play
App Store
We use
cookies
We use
cookies
to make
your experience on this
website better.
Accept
Learn More