THE death toll from an insurgent mortar assault on a Damascus market has risen to 38, state media said, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the Syrian capital since the start of the seven-year civil war.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll from Tuesday’s attack even higher, at 43, including 11 pro-government fighters.
The government blamed the attack on rebels in the eastern Ghouta suburbs, where Syrian troops backed by Russian warplanes have been waging a major offensive over the past month.
Mohammed Haitham al-Husseini, director of the hospital in Damascus, said that 35 others were wounded in the mortar attack, with six in intensive care. He said most of the casualties were women and children.
Witnesses told state-run TV that the mortar fell during rush hour in the popular market on the eve of Mother’s Day, celebrated in the Middle East with the start of spring.
A child said he was out shopping with his family for Mother’s Day when they heard a huge explosion: “Everyone started running, and people were going into narrow streets to give first aid to others,” he said.
A woman speaking in hospital said her niece, injured from shrapnel, lost her four-year old son.
Government forces meanwhile continued to pound opposition-held areas with shelling and air strikes.
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