A screen grab from a SANA video (https://youtu.be/IPIelZ4cnRA) showing the aftermath of the bombing.
Syrian authorities will pursue the preparators of the Damascus bus bombing wherever they are, the country’s Interior Minister, Mohamad al-Rahamoun, told the state-run TV a few hours only after the bombing that took place on October 20.
The bombing, which targeted a shuttle bus of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the heart of the Syrian capital, claimed the lives of 14 service members and civilian workers.
“The sinning hands will be pursued and amputated wherever they are,” Rahmoun said. “We will not give up on pursuing terrorism and we will pursue the terrorists who committed this heinous crime wherever they are.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing, so far. However, there are indications that al-Qaeda-affiliated Horas al-Din was behind the bombing.
In August, Horas al-Din claimed responsibility for an explosion that destroyed a shuttle bus of the SAA in Damascus. The explosion claimed the lives of the bus driver and wounded three soldiers. Back then, Syrian authorities said that the explosion was caused by a “short circuit” in the bus’s engine.
Horas al-Din is based in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, which is controlled by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. Turkey maintains a large force in the region.
Another possible scenario is that ISIS was behind the deadly bombing. The terrorist group carried out attacks in Damascus city before.
Syrian authorities are now working to uncover and apprehend the perpetrators. The Air Force Intelligence Directorate has already carried out a number of raids in the countryside of Damascus.
