The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, continues to employ suicide bombers to target government forces that remain loyal to President Bashir al Assad. Today the group claimed credit for two separate suicide attacks that took place in the capital of Damascus on the night of Feb. 25. The Al Nusrah Front claimed the attacks in a statement released on the Internet that was obtained and translated SITE Intelligence Group.
The first suicide attack, which took place in the al-Abasiyeen area of the capital, was part of what the Al Nusrah Front calls a “storming operation,” where a suicide bomber breaches a barrier and fighters then enter the perimeter to attack the remaining forces. The second attack was carried out by a lone bomber, who attacked a “military security” building in the Jobir neighborhood. The Al Nusrah Front did not provide estimates of casualties for either attack.
The Al Nusrah Front has now claimed credit for 55 of the 65 suicide attacks that have taken place in Syria since December 2011, according to a tally by The Long War Journal (note that multiple suicide bombers deployed in a single operation are counted as part of a single attack). So far this year, 13 suicide attacks have been reported in Syria; Al Nusrah has claimed credit for 12 of them.
For more information on the Syrian terror group, which is al Qaeda in Iraq’s affiliate, see LWJ report, Al Nusrah Front claims suicide attack on Syrian defense factory.
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