Damascus terrorist attacks
Encyclopedia
2004
- April 28: Three gunmen, a policeman, and one civilian were killed in an attack on the diplomatic quarter of Damascus, damaging a building formerly used by the UN. Police blamed Islamists.
2006
- June 2: Four gunmen and two security guards were killed when Syrian security forces foiled an attack by IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ist militants near the studios of Syrian National TelevisionSyrian TelevisionSyrian Television is the official television broadcaster of Syria. It was formed in 1960, when Syria and Egypt were part of the United Arab Republic...
.
- September 12: Three gunmen and a Syrian security guard were killed in a foiled attack on the U.S. embassy. Gunmen tossed grenadeGrenadeA grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s over the perimeter walls before opening fire with automatic weapons. A car bombCar bombA car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
was detonated outside the embassy, although a truck bomb filled with pipe bombPipe bombA pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device, a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively large explosion, and the fragmentation of the pipe itself creates potentially...
s and gas cylinderGas cylinderA gas cylinder is a pressure vessel used to store gases at above atmospheric pressure. High pressure gas cylinders are also called bottles. Although they are sometimes colloquially called "tanks", this is technically incorrect, as a tank is a vessel used to store liquids at ambient pressure and...
s failed to explode. Thirteen people were woundWoundA wound is a type of injury in which skin is torn, cut or punctured , or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion . In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin.-Open:...
ed, including two security guards and a ChineseChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
diplomat. Police also captured one gunman, although he later died of his wounds. The Syrian government said the attack was planned in Saudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and the attackers had no links to al-QaedaAl-QaedaAl-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
.
2008
- September 27: Bombing in Damascus2008 Damascus car bombingThe 2008 Damascus car bombing is a car bombing that occurred on September 27, 2008 in the Syrian capital of Damascus. The explosion left 17 people dead and 14 injured. It was reported that a car, laden with 200 kilograms of explosives detonated in the Sidi Kadad suburb of the capital, at...
kills 17; Fatah al-IslamFatah al-IslamFatah al-Islam, is a radical Sunni Islamist group that formed in November 2006 in a Palestinian refugee camp, located in Lebanon. It has been described as a militant jihadist movement that draws inspiration from al-Qaeda...
blamed.
2009
- December 3: A little more than year later another explosion killed at least three people when a bus blew up in Sayyidah Zaynab, a Damascus suburb popular with Iranian and other Shiite pilgrims and named after a shrineSayyidah Zaynab MosqueSayyidah Zaynab Mosque is a shrine located in Damascus, Syria, that contains the grave of Zaynab daughter of ‘Alī and Fātimah, and granddaughter of Muhammad ....
dedicated to the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad located there. Syrian officials denied Terrorism was involved, blaming the deaths on an exploding tire and banned reporters from the site.