A powerful Islamist rebel faction has claimed it bombed a gathering of Russian officers near Syria’s Latakia on February 21, the same day reports emerged of a mystery blast in the area.
Ahrar al-Sham announced Wednesday afternoon that it conducted a special operation alongside the Harakat al-Bayan faction that “managed to destroy a gathering of top Russian generals… near the city of Latakia with a car bomb.”
The joint statement issued by both groups added that a car bombing outside the meeting “caused the death and injury” of dozens of Russian officers, a claim that Moscow has yet to officially comment on.
“Following a monitoring, scouting and preparation mission that lasted for several weeks, the Ashab al-Naqb company, in cooperation with [Ahrar and Harakat al-Bayan], was able to deliver the car bomb to the military base,” the statement added.
“After observing a meeting of top Russian generals inside the area… the car bomb was detonated during the meeting.”
Ahrar al-Sham and Harakat al-Bayan also published a video purporting to show the moment of the attack against the meeting in the regime’s coastal bastion.
Both groups said the attack occurred in the Snouber-Jableh area at 1:10 p.m. Sunday, February 21st, but the announcement of the operation “was delayed until the safe return of the brothers who carried out the operation.”
A little over 30 minutes after the alleged car bomb attack, a pro-regime Facebook page based in Jableh published a terse report on an explosion in the area.
“The sound of a blast was heard in the vicinity of [Jableh] a short while ago according to social media pages, nothing is confirmed yet,” the Jableh City Facebook news page wrote in a post uploaded at 1:43 p.m., February 21.
One member of the group responded that the sounds of ambulances were heard in the area, while another person wrote that a military exercise was underway near the Snouber area.
Shortly before 3:00 p.m., another pro-Assad Facebook group—the Syrian Coast News Network—said the loud sound was the result of training exercises in a “military area” near Latakia. This report was carried by other pro-regime Facebook pages based in Syria’s coastal region.
Meanwhile, the pro-rebel Smart News outlet reported in the afternoon of February 21st that a “rocket of unknown origin” had hit the Snouber-Jableh area, without going into any further details.
As-Sharq al-Awsat also carried a report on the mystery blast, with a rebel commander telling the Saudi daily that he received word that a rocket had struck in the vicinity of Snouber-Jableh, where Russian troops are present.
However, the source added that the nearest rebel factions are over 40-kilometers away from the site of the blast, and possess long-range rockets with only a range of 30-kilometers.
Ahrar al-Sham and Harakat al-Bayan, for their part, claimed that a large number of ambulances and fire engines had rushed to the site of blast to transfer the injured to hospitals in Jableh and Latakia.
“Russian helicopters then arrived at the bomb site and transferred the bodies of the dead and injured [Russian] generals to Hmeimim airbase,” the statement added.
The two groups also claimed that Jableh and Latakia witnessed a large-scale security mobilization following the explosion that has “continued until today and was particularly [noticeable] in the hours following the bombing.”
Neither Syrian regime state media nor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights tracking developments in the war torn country published any reports on the February 21 incident outside Latakia. (Source: NOW English)
Ahrar al-Sham announced Wednesday afternoon that it conducted a special operation alongside the Harakat al-Bayan faction that “managed to destroy a gathering of top Russian generals… near the city of Latakia with a car bomb.”
The joint statement issued by both groups added that a car bombing outside the meeting “caused the death and injury” of dozens of Russian officers, a claim that Moscow has yet to officially comment on.
“Following a monitoring, scouting and preparation mission that lasted for several weeks, the Ashab al-Naqb company, in cooperation with [Ahrar and Harakat al-Bayan], was able to deliver the car bomb to the military base,” the statement added.
“After observing a meeting of top Russian generals inside the area… the car bomb was detonated during the meeting.”
Ahrar al-Sham and Harakat al-Bayan also published a video purporting to show the moment of the attack against the meeting in the regime’s coastal bastion.
Both groups said the attack occurred in the Snouber-Jableh area at 1:10 p.m. Sunday, February 21st, but the announcement of the operation “was delayed until the safe return of the brothers who carried out the operation.”
A little over 30 minutes after the alleged car bomb attack, a pro-regime Facebook page based in Jableh published a terse report on an explosion in the area.
“The sound of a blast was heard in the vicinity of [Jableh] a short while ago according to social media pages, nothing is confirmed yet,” the Jableh City Facebook news page wrote in a post uploaded at 1:43 p.m., February 21.
One member of the group responded that the sounds of ambulances were heard in the area, while another person wrote that a military exercise was underway near the Snouber area.
Shortly before 3:00 p.m., another pro-Assad Facebook group—the Syrian Coast News Network—said the loud sound was the result of training exercises in a “military area” near Latakia. This report was carried by other pro-regime Facebook pages based in Syria’s coastal region.
Meanwhile, the pro-rebel Smart News outlet reported in the afternoon of February 21st that a “rocket of unknown origin” had hit the Snouber-Jableh area, without going into any further details.
As-Sharq al-Awsat also carried a report on the mystery blast, with a rebel commander telling the Saudi daily that he received word that a rocket had struck in the vicinity of Snouber-Jableh, where Russian troops are present.
However, the source added that the nearest rebel factions are over 40-kilometers away from the site of the blast, and possess long-range rockets with only a range of 30-kilometers.
Ahrar al-Sham and Harakat al-Bayan, for their part, claimed that a large number of ambulances and fire engines had rushed to the site of blast to transfer the injured to hospitals in Jableh and Latakia.
“Russian helicopters then arrived at the bomb site and transferred the bodies of the dead and injured [Russian] generals to Hmeimim airbase,” the statement added.
The two groups also claimed that Jableh and Latakia witnessed a large-scale security mobilization following the explosion that has “continued until today and was particularly [noticeable] in the hours following the bombing.”
Neither Syrian regime state media nor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights tracking developments in the war torn country published any reports on the February 21 incident outside Latakia. (Source: NOW English)
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