Dozens Killed in Damascus Bombing Targeting Shiites

A double bomb attack targeting Shiite pilgrims in Damascus killed at least 70 Iraqis and wounded 100 more who were going to pray at a nearby shrine, the Iraqi foreign ministry said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday’s attack, which the Hezbollah-run al-Manar station said had been carried out by two suicide bombers.

Footage broadcast by Syrian state media showed two badly damaged buses with their windows blown out. The area was splattered with blood and shoes were scattered on the ground.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been supported in the country’s war by Shiite militias from countries including Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.

The attack took place at a bus station where the passengers had been brought to visit the nearby Bab al-Saghir cemetery.

The second blast went off some 10 minutes after the first at around 10 a.m., inflicting casualties on civil defense workers who had gathered to tend to the casualties, the Damascus correspondent for al-Manar told the station by phone.

Iran has backed Assad in the conflict that erupted in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah is also fighting in support of Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organization that reports on the war, said the number of dead was 74.