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A drone attack on a military academy in Syria’s Homs province during a graduation ceremony resulted in at least 100 deaths and 240 injuries, according to a war monitor and Syria’s health minister.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated that over 100 people were killed and 125 were injured. An official with the coalition supporting the Syrian government estimated the death toll at roughly 100.
Hassan Al-Ghabash, the minister of health, provided a lesser estimate, saying on state television that 80 people had died, including six children, but that 240 people had been hurt. There were worries that the death toll would go up since so many of the injured were in critical condition.
No one claimed responsibility for the incident right away, and the reports could not be independently verified. Earlier, the military said that drones carrying explosives targeted the ceremony on Thursday as it was coming to a close. The military blamed fighters “backed by known international forces” for the assault in a statement.
Turkish drone shot down by US in Syria
Despite a Turkish defense ministry official’s denials, the United States claimed on Thursday to have shot down an armed Turkish drone that was flying close to its forces in northeast Syria.
Turkish drones were reportedly witnessed conducting airstrikes on Hasakah on Thursday morning, around 1 km (0.6 miles) distant from US forces, according to Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder.
A Turkish drone was shot down by F-16 aircraft after it flew within 0.3 miles (less than half a kilometer) of US forces a short time later.
Ryder told reporters, “We have no indication that Turkey was deliberately aiming at US forces”.
According to a Turkish security source, Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency carried out operations on Thursday targeting sites suspected to be linked to a bomb assault in Ankara last weekend.
US support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has long led to friction with Turkey, which sees them as a branch of the outlawed PKK, which Turkey, the US, and the European Union all label as a “terrorist” organization.
Turkey claimed on Wednesday that the two attackers were from Syria. Both terrorists were murdered, and two police officers were injured in the bombing. The SDF denied that the planes flew over its territory.
The Turkish defense ministry announced late Thursday that it had struck 30 targets in northern Syria, including an oil well, a storage facility, and shelters, as well as “neutralised” a number of combatants.
Outrage over the devastating drone attack
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “expressed deep concern” about the Homs drone strike and “reports of retaliatory shelling” in northwest Syria, said his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric
According to Reuters news agency, which cited a source in the regional alliance supporting the Damascus government against opposition groups and a source in Syrian security, the defence minister attended the graduation ceremony but departed before the attack.
Zeina Khodr of Al Jazeera, who has covered the state in depth, stated that the strike is “a major security breach, a blow to the Syrian regime.”
She said that it has been years since such an assault in the center of territory under government control specifically targeted the military of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Moments after this incident, the Syrian regime’s jets began to target civilian areas in the opposition-controlled enclaves in the northwest of the nation. According to a volunteer emergency rescue group, the attacks in the northwest province of Idlib resulted in at least six fatalities, including a lady and child, and 40 other injuries.
The Syrian Civil Defence, popularly known as the White Helmets, reported that the assaults were directed towards 20 villages and towns spread around the Idlib province. The injured included eight mothers and at least eight children. Locals claim that a power plant and a well-known market were the targets of the strikes.
