2023 Homs drone strike

On 5 October 2023, a Syrian military graduation ceremony at the Homs Military Academy was targeted by a drone strike, killing at least 89 people and injuring 277 others.^[2][1] The attack followed increased clashes in the 'De-escalation Zone' located in northwestern Syria. The perpetrator of the attack is currently unknown.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Attack

The incident occurred just after the afternoon graduation ceremony had ended. The Syrian Ministry of Defense reported 89 graduate soldiers and six children killed.^[2][1][8] The drones were believed to have originated in rebel-held territories north-west of Homs.^[9]

Syrian Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas was in attendance at the graduation ceremony but left before the attack.^[10] He later visited the Abdul-Qader Shaqfa Military Hospital where several of the casualties were brought.^[11]

Aftermath

The Syrian Defence Ministry vowed to respond to the attacks “with full force”.^[12] Retaliation was set in motion on the same day, in which the Syrian military carried out rocket and artillery strikes on the opposition-controlled zone of Idlib Governorate, killing at least 24 civilians and injuring 37 others.^[13][14] It also shelled rebel-held areas of Idlib and Aleppo Governorates.^[15][16] Meanwhile, Russian airstrikes hit regions in northwestern Hama Governorate.^[17]

The areas targeted were controlled by different factions including Ansar al-Tawhid, Hurras al-Din, Tahrir al-Sham and Turkistan Islamic Party.^[18]

Reactions

The Syrian government announced three days of mourning starting on 6 October.^[2] The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack on the academy as a "cowardly terrorist attack" perpetrated by U.S.-backed "terrorist groups" to destabilize the situation in Syria.^[19]

The Arab League,^[20] released a statement condemning the attack. Argentina,^[21] Algeria,^[22] Armenia,^[23] Belarus,^[24] Brazil,^[25] Egypt,^[26] India, Iran,^[27] Iraq,^[28] Jordan,^[29] Lebanon,^[30] North Korea,^[31] Oman,^[32] Palestine,^[33] Romania,^[34] Russia,^[35] Sudan,^[36] the United Arab Emirates^[37] and Venezuela^[38] expressed their condolences to the Syrian government, according to the state news agency SANA.^[39]

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was "deeply concerned" about developments in Syria, according to his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.^[40] Geir Pedersen, the United Nations' special envoy to Syria, called the attack "horrific" and called on all parties to the conflict to "exercise the utmost restraint".^[9] The Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, also offered his condolences to President Bashar al-Assad.^[41]

References