Homs (Syria): A twin bomb attack on a primary school killed 48 people including 41 children in the government controlled city of Homs.
This horrifying incident took place as children were leaving school at the end of classes on Wednesday. The first car bomb was detonated in front of the Ekrimah primary school. Within a couple of minutes another suicide bomber detonated his vehicle. As reported by state television.
This attack was one of the most deadly one to hit the government-controlled area in over a year.
Videos show parents screaming and hunting amid the scattered dead bodies and blood smeared bags, for their children. The entire premises looked like a pool of blood. No one has yet claimed responsibility of carrying out the attack.
Another video shows a man pulling a limp body of a girl out from the pile of dead bodies. This little girl was dressed in red and had dust and blood all over her.
Homs was once dubbed “the capital of the revolution” against Assad. Most of the city, including the shelled-out ruins of the Old Town, has returned to the control of Assad's government after two years of bombardment and siege. Since re-capturing the city, Syrian forces have struggled to secure it. The district has been targeted more than once before, including on 19 June, when at least six people were killed in a car bomb attack.
“Homs is a city that is under the complete control of the regime who won the battle there months ago and yet you still find that the pro-regime communities are vulnerable to spectacular terrorist attacks,” said Aboud Dandachi, an IT worker from Homs.
For the regime, control of Homs is a matter of life and death,” said Dandachi. “It is the gateway to cities across the country, Syria's jugular vein. The regime would sacrifice huge chunks of Syria so long as it controls Homs. That is where the revolution should have succeeded.”
