Syrian authorities have detained a member of Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front who admitted the group’s responsibility for a double bomb attack in the country’s Druze heartland, state media says.
The arrested man, named as Al-Wafed Abu Tarabeh, reportedly also confessed the group was behind attacks on government property in Suweida after the bombings, which killed 31 people.
“Authorities in Suweida today arrested the terrorist Al-Wafed Abu Tarabeh, who confessed to responsibility for the two terrorist bombings on Friday,” state news agency SANA reports.
State television identifies Abu Tarabeh as a member of Al-Nusra.
Supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad hold his portraits and wave Syrian flags during a demonstration in support of his candidacy for presidential election in Suweida town, southern Syria, May 31 2014 (AP/SANA)
“The terrorist also confessed to participation in the attacks on the military police and security branches… in addition to acts of vandalism and theft in Suweida,” SANA says.
Twin bomb attacks hit Suweida on Friday night, killing 31 people, including prominent Druze cleric and regime critic Sheikh Wahid al-Balous.
After the attacks, angry crowds including armed men attacked two security buildings in the southwestern city, killing at least six regime security personnel, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
— AFP
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this,please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, September 6, 2015
