1981 Azbakiyah bombing
The 1981 Azbakiyah bombing (Arabic: تفجير الأزبكية) was a terrorist car bomb attack that rocked the densely populated al-Azbakiyah neighborhood of central Damascus in Syria on 29 November 1981. The explosion, which took place in front of a school in Baghdad Street, close to a complex of intelligence agencies,[1] destroyed three five-story apartment buildings, and killed 64 civilians and military men.[2] The attack was blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood which was waging an insurrection against the government of Hafez al-Assad at the time.[3]
1981 Azbakiyah bombing تفجير الأزبكية | |
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Part of the Islamist uprising in Syria | |
Bombing location | |
Location | Damascus, Syria |
Date | 29 November 1981 |
Target | Intelligence agencies complex in al-Azbakiyah neighborhood |
Attack type | Car bomb |
Deaths | 64 Syrian civilians and military men |
Injured | 135 |
Perpetrators | Syrian Muslim Brotherhood or the Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners |
However, a group calling itself the Organisation for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners claimed responsibility for the bombing. It is believed to be the same group as the Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners, which was responsible for a series of bombings in Lebanon, which killed 146 people.[4]
References
- Seale, Patrick (1990). Asad of Syria: the struggle for the Middle East. University of California Press. p. 331. ISBN 978-0-520-06976-3.
- Crowell-Collier Educational Corporation; Macmillan Educational Corporation (1982). 1983 Year Book. Crowell-Collier Educational Corp. p. 516.
- "Wire Fences Hung in Damascus as Security Measure". Los Angeles Times. December 28, 1981.
- Press, The Associated. "BOMB EXPLOSION IN SYRIA KILLS 64 AND HURTS 135 IN CROWDED AREA". Retrieved 2018-04-13.