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Mortar Shell Hits Russian Embassy Compound In Damascus, Injures 3
Edited time: September 22, 2013 14:45
View of Damascus. (AFP Photo / Ammar al-Arbini)
rt.com
A mortar shell has hit the Russian embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus, injuring three people. The Russian Foreign Ministry and Syria’s authorities are taking measures to ensure additional security.
“On the morning of September 22, as a result of mortar shelling in the Damascus Mazraa district, one of the shells exploded on the territory of the Russian Embassy in Syria,” said Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement adding that the three injured employees do not have life-threatening conditions.
The upscale Mazraa district also houses several Syrian security institutions, a soccer stadium and nightclubs.
Earlier reports suggested that there were two shells and several people were wounded, but they were not confirmed.
“Russia’s embassy is working normally,” the embassy’s guard on duty stressed earlier, as cited by Itar-Tass.
In recent months of the ongoing civil war in Syria, rebels have launched a number of mortar shells into the center of the Syrian capital, where many embassies and senior Syrian officials are based.
Earlier in February the Russian embassy was damaged when a car bomb exploded nearby, killing 50 people on the Damascus highway. According to Russian officials no one was injured at the embassy, but the blast blew out windows in the building.
