up to 60 killed in ISIS suicide attack at Shiite shrine in Damascus
DEBKAfile was founded by a team of journalists in June 2000 as an independent Internet Web site, providing an intelligence and security news service. January 31, 2016, 10:03 PM (IDT)
ISIS brought the Sunni extremist war on Shiites to a new peak Sunday with a multiple suicide attack on the compound of the Shiite shrine, the Sayyida Zeinab tomb,in southern Damascus. Up to 60 people were killed and 120 injured by two suicide bombers and a third, who drove a bomb car at the guarded gate. Many neighboring buildings were damaged, including Syrian army staff HQ; a bus carrying pilgrims caught fire.
Sayyida, a granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad, is one of the most revered Shiite saints. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims continued to visit the tomb from around the Shiite world – even during the harshest moments of the Syrian war. For many years, a special Hizballah unit acted as custodians of the shrine. This duty recently passed to Shiite,militias imported from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.
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Source: http://www.debka.com/newsupdate/14839/up-to-60-killed-in-ISIS-suicide-attack-at-Shiite-shrine-in-Damascus
