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world NEWSWednesday 14 October
Russian Embassy shelled in Syria as insurgents hit back
ALBERT AJI which is fueling an already This photo shows Syrians holding photos of Syrian President Bashar Assad and Russian flags,
BASSEM MROUE brutal conflict with a multi-
Associated Press tude of radical groups. during a protest to thank Moscow for its intervention in Syria, in front of the Russian embassy in
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — No one was hurt in the em-
The Russian Embassy in Da- bassy shelling, officials said, Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015. (SANA via AP)
mascus was shelled Tues- and it was not the first time
day as pro-government the compound has been act intended to probably been one of the strongest 23 million.
demonstrators gathered hit during the civil war. The frighten supporters of the supporters of Syrian Presi- On Tuesday, the Army of
outside, and Syria’s larg- attack came as hundreds war against terror,” said dent Bashar Assad since Conquest, a coalition that
est insurgent coalition an- of people were gathered Russian Foreign Minister the start of the uprising in includes several power-
nounced an offensive to outside to thank Moscow Sergey Lavrov. 2011. ful rebel factions as well
counter Moscow’s airstrikes for its military intervention. Insurgents have vowed to The civil war has killed as the al-Qaida-affiliated
that have injected new An Associated Press re- fight back after Moscow more than 250,000 people Nusra Front, announced its
fury in the conflict. porter who was outside began its airstrikes in Syria and displaced half of Syr- counteroffensive against
Al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, the embassy when the on Sept. 30. Russia has ia’s prewar population of government forces.q
meanwhile, released an first shell slammed into the
audio message purport- compound in central Da-
edly from its leader urging mascus saw smoke billow-
Muslims in the former Soviet ing from inside. As people
Union to attack Russian ci- ran away, another shell hit
vilians if Russia targets civil- the area, landing about
ians in Syria. 200 meters (yards) from the
The developments under- compound.
scored the complications It was not clear if the attack
brought about by Russia’s had targeted the rally.
military intervention in Syria, “This is obviously a terrorist
Turkish PM:
Suicide bombers ‘originated’ from Syria
SUZAN FRASER security flaws prior to the neighbor of war-torn Syria
Associated Press bombing attacks Satur- and the host for more refu-
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — day that killed 97 people gees than any other na-
Turkey has intelligence and wounded hundreds, tion — may be heading
suggesting that militants but said the scale of the toward a period of insta-
“originating” from Syria “mistake” would emerge bility.
were planning to carry after an investigation. The blasts have further po-
out attacks in Turkey, the Erdogan rejected opposi- larized Turkey as it grap-
country’s president said tion parties’ calls for the ples with more than 2 mil-
Tuesday, but added that resignation of some offi- lion refugees and tries to
no groups were being cials. avoid being drawn into
ruled out in the investiga- The two suicide bomb- the chaos in neighboring
tion into a deadly attack ings came just weeks be- Syria and Iraq.
on a peace rally. fore Turkey’s Nov. 1 elec- “There is certain intelli-
Turkish President Recep tion, which is effectively a gence about some prep-
Tayyip Erdogan, speak- re-run of an inconclusive arations that were made
ing at a joint news confer- June election. The bomb- by (terrorists) entering our
ence with the visiting Finn- ings raised fears that Tur- country and carrying out
ish president, admitted key — a member of NATO, various acts — and that
for the first time that there a candidate for Europe- they originated from Syr-
were “some” government an Union membership, a ia,” Erdogan said.q
