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A general view shows the destruction after an explosion at Iman mosque in Damascus, yesterday.
BEIRUT: An explosion at a mosque in the Syrian capital yesterday killed at least 42 people, including a senior pro-government cleric. Syria TV said a “terrorist suicide blast” hit the Iman Mosque in central Damascus, and Mohammed Al Buti, the imam of the ancient Ummayyad Mosque, was among the dead. Nearly 84 were wounded.
Buti, a cleric reviled by the Syrian opposition movement, delivered the Friday mosque sermons on state television. In one of his speeches, Buti described those fighting to topple President Bashar Al Assad as ‘scum’. It was unclear if the explosion was caused by a car bomb or a mortar shell. The Iman mosque is also next to the offices of Assad’s ruling Baath party as well as other government compounds.
Agencies
