Damascus, Jan 11 (IANS) Syria’s interim authorities said they have thwarted a planned bombing at a Shiite shrine south of Damascus, state news agency SANA reported on Saturday.
Citing an unnamed source in the General Intelligence Directorate, SANA said a group linked to the Islamic State (IS) had intended to attack the Sayyida Zainab shrine.
Security forces apprehended those involved before they could carry out the attack, which officials described as “a criminal act targeting the Syrian people,” according to SANA.
No casualties or further details were immediately available. SANA did not say when the arrests took place or whether charges against the suspects had been filed.
The Sayyida Zainab shrine is a significant Shiite pilgrimage site.
Last month, after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, a militant coalition led by Ahmad al-Shara, the commander of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), captured Damascus.
After taking control of the capital, the HTS commander said that Syria would not be a source of tension for other Arab nations and expressed hopes to emulate Gulf development models.
He underscored that “the revolutionary period” ended with the fall of the previous regime and that exporting unrest was not on the agenda.
“We won’t allow Syria to attack or unsettle any Arab or Gulf country,” he said in an interview with the pan-Arab newspaper ‘Asharq al-Awsat’ in December.
Al-Shara mentioned that his administration now seeks constructive ties fostering economic cooperation and long-term stability.
He also stated plans for a nationwide dialogue underway to draft a new constitution, without expounding the details.
The militant leader vowed not to seek vengeance against supporters of Bashar al-Assad’s government, but he also stressed that “perpetrators of well-documented atrocities” must face justice.
Al-Shara, also known by his nom de guerre of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, led a 12-day military operation that resulted in the fall of the Assad government on December 8.
–IANS
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