Syria has held the first funerals for dozens of victims of a drone attack that hit a military academy in the Western city of Homs.
On Friday, relatives and officials, including Syrian Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas, gathered in Homs to bid farewell to the 30 victims, including both military forces and civilians.
The drone attack targeted a graduation ceremony for officers at the military academy on Thursday.
The Syrian health ministry said on Friday that the death toll has risen to 89, including 31 women and five children, adding that 277 people were injured in the attack.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Syrian army on Thursday blamed foreign-backed “terrorist groups” for the attack that was carried out by “explosive-laden drones”, and vowed to “respond with full force.”
The Syrian government has declared three days of mourning starting from Friday.
Iran ready to deepen cooperation with Syria on counter-terrorism
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri condemned the attack in a letter to Syria’s Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas and the Chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces, Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim.
He also expressed the readiness of Iran’s armed forces to deepen cooperation with Damascus in the fight against terrorism.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also denounced the attack in a phone call with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad on Thursday.
During the call, he stressed that Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi also decried the regimes that support terrorists and provide them with advanced military equipment to commit their atrocities.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates strongly condemned the terrorist attack, expressing its opposition “to all forms of violence and terrorism that aim at destabilizing the security and stability” of the country.
Egypt also decried the attack, calling on the international community to intensify its efforts to uproot terrorism and drain all sources of terrorism funding.
Also in the region, the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement said the “heinous crime” confirms “the nature of the battle that has been ongoing for more than a decade” in Syria against foreign-backed terrorist groups.
The movement noted that the attack took place as life has almost returned to normal in Syria, reaffirming its support for Damascus in its anti-terrorism fight.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian resistance movement, Islamic Jihad, stressed that Syria will remain steadfast and will manage to thwart plots aimed at undermining its unity.
For its part, Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement said the US and Israel are behind all “malicious plots” against Syria because of its stances, including its support for the resistance axis and the Palestinian cause and its opposition to normalization with Israel.
Russia, Belarus, and Venezuela have also condemned the attack and have expressed their sympathy to the bereaved families.
