Bombers ‘kill 20’ at Syria shrine

Suicide bombers struck outside a Shiite shrine near Syria’s capital Saturday, leaving at least 20 people dead, a monitor said, in an attack claimed by the Daesh group.
The official SANA news agency said two suicide bombers, one in a car, attacked the entrance to the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, which is revered by Shiites around the world.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said at least 20 people were killed, including 13 civilians, and more than 30 wounded in the blasts. SANA gave a toll of at least 12 dead and 55 wounded.
Daesh claimed the attack via its Amaq news agency, saying it was carried out by three suicide bombers.
The shrine, around 10 km south of the center of Damascus, is heavily guarded by pro-government forces but has still been the target of several attacks, including those claimed by the Daesh.
Syria’s official Al-Ikhbariya channel showed images from the scene of burned-out cars billowing with plumes of black smoke.
Firefighters battled to extinguish the flames as shop signs lay in the street.
Meanwhile, a siege by US-backed Kurdish and Arab forces of the key insurgent-held city of Manbij in northern Syria left tens of thousands of civilians trapped on Saturday.
The Syrian Democratic Forces supported by US air strikes encircled Manbij on Friday, severing the radical group’s principal supply route between Turkey and its de facto Syrian capital, Raqa city.

Source: Arab News