This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/25/dozens-dead-suicide-attack-syria-sweida-isis

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
'Dozens dead' in suicide attack on Syrian city of Sweida Syria: Isis attacks in and around Sweida city leave dozens dead
(about 7 hours later)
A suicide bomber in the southern Syrian city of Sweida has killed 38 people in an attack near a marketplace, state media said. Islamic State militants have killed scores of people in a series of attacks on government-held parts of south-western Syria, including suicide blasts in Sweida city, official sources said.
Thirty-seven people were reportedly wounded in the attack early on Wednesday. The seemingly coordinated attacks were the deadliest in government-held territory in many months. At least 50 people were killed and 78 wounded, the head of the Sweida health authority told al-Manar TV, which is run by Damascus’s ally Hezbollah.
Authorities chased and killed two other attackers before they could also blow themselves up. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based monitoring group, said at least 100 people had been killed. Isis said in a statement that it had carried out the attacks.
Islamic State militants also attacked three villages north-east of Sweida, killing and wounding a number of people, it was reported. The head of the health authority gave the numbers dead and injured on state TV. The jihadists also launched simultaneous attacks on several villages north-east of Sweida city, where they clashed with government forces, state media and the Observatory said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes with Islamic State militants north-east of the city left more than 30 people wounded. At least two attackers blew themselves up in the city itself, one near a marketplace and a second in another district, state television said. The state news agency SANA said two other Isis militants were killed before they could detonate their bombs.
The air force struck militant hideouts there after soldiers stopped an attempt by fighters to infiltrate three villages, state media said. The SOHR said jihadists had seized hostages from the villages they attacked. It said that at least 35 civilians were among the dead.
The governor of Sweida, Amer al-Eshi , said the authorities had also arrested another attacker. “The city of Sweida is secure and calm now,” he told state-run Ikhbariyah TV.
Isis was driven from nearly all the territory it once held in Syria last year in separate offensives by the Russian-backed army and a US-backed militia alliance.
Forces loyal to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, have since gone on to retake the last remaining rebel enclaves near Damascus and Homs, and have swept rebels from the south-west.
The SOHR said government forces had battled jihadists who stormed the villages from an Isis pocket north-east of the city. Government troops and allied forces hold all of Sweida province except for that enclave.
The air force pounded militant hideouts north-east of the city after soldiers also thwarted an attempt by Isis fighters to infiltrate Douma, Tima and al-Matouna villages, state media said.
The army and villagers regained control of a hill and broke a brief siege of another nearby village after clashes, Ikhbariyah said.
With the help of Russian air power, the Syrian army has been hitting Isis in a separate area further west, near the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The Yarmouk basin in south-west Syria remains in jihadist hands after an army offensive defeated rebel factions in other parts of the south-west. The operation has focused on Deraa and Quneitra provinces.
SyriaSyria
Middle East and North AfricaMiddle East and North Africa
Islamic StateIslamic State
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on Google+Share on Google+
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content