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Sunday 17 November 2013

4 Syrian generals among 31 dead in rebel bomb attack (VIDEO)

A rebel bomb attack has killed 31 Syrian military troops on an army base near Damascus. It came as government forces were on an offensive against the rebels on Sunday, AFP reported. Four generals died in the attack.

"Three generals and a brigadier-general were among 31 troops killed in a bomb attack that caused a building in the army transport base in Harasta to collapse,'' Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdul Rahman said. 

The rebel group Direh al-Aasmeh (Shield of Damascus) brigade - which is part of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army - has claimed responsibility for the attack, posting a video of the blast on YouTube. The video shows the military building collapsing. 

 

"The timing of the attack is significant” since government troops have only just regained several rebel strongholds in the area, Rahman added. 

The government forces were reportedly in the midst of an offensive in the town of Qara, north of the capital near the border with Lebanon. “Warplanes bombarded the town heavily yesterday (Saturday). Regime troops are trying to storm it and to drive the rebels out,” he said. 

"There is speculation that rebels could have infiltrated the military base, as the explosive device was probably placed "either inside or beneath the building in a tunnel,” according to Rahman. 

Ukrainian journalist Ankhar Kochneva confirmed the attack on her blog. Kochneva was in Harasta when she heard the blast and felt the building she was in shake. She described the blast as a very large one, with many dead and wounded. 

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