A roadside bomb killed at least seven children Saturday in Syria's southwestern Daraa province, with some reports conflicting and counting up to nine children. Daraa is an area with a death toll of about 100 in 2024 from numerous incidents, according to state media and a war monitor.
The perpetrator behind the bombing in the northern countryside, a region previously recaptured by Russian-backed Syrian forces in 2018, remains unknown. The province is strategically located between Jordan and the Golan Heights.
Syrian state news agency SANA blaming militants still active in the region, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights pointed to a pro-government militia as responsible in an alleged assassination attempt. The blast also injured two others in an area once dubbed the cradle of the Syrian uprising, now in its 14th year of conflict. Following the government's recapture of Daraa in 2018, a Moscow-mediated deal left rebels in charge of some security aspects under Russian oversight, the Associated Press reported.
This is the second similar incident reported within the past week. A car bomb reportedly detonated on March 31 in a market of Aziz, a northern Syrian town held by Turkey-backed opposition fighters, killed at least three, including two children and a woman, as reported by rescue workers and a war monitor.
The Syrian Civil Defense, or White Helmets, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights detailed the blast in Aleppo province, which injured five civilians, damaged property, and sparked panic and fires. The casualty count varies, with the Observatory citing eight dead and 23 injured. No group has claimed the attack. Turkey, involved in Syria since 2016 through cross-border operations, controls parts of northern Syria.
Photo: Daraa has been the scene of chronic conflict. Here it is pictured in 2017.
