Funerals held in Syria for dozens of victims killed in deadliest attack in years

HOMS, Syria (AP) — Family members of some of the victims of a deadly drone attack on a crowded military graduation ceremony that killed scores gathered outside a military hospital in the central city of Homs on Friday to collect the bodies of their loved ones, who died in one of Syria’s deadliest single attacks in years.

Thursday’s strike on the Homs Military Academy killed 89 people, including 31 women and five children, and wounded as many as 277, according to the health ministry. The death toll could rise as some of the wounded are in critical condition. Syria announced a three-day state of mourning starting Friday.

Syria’s military said in a statement Thursday that drones laden with explosives targeted the ceremony packed with young officers and their families as it was wrapping up. Without naming any particular group, the military accused insurgents “backed by known international forces” for the attack and said “it will respond with full force and decisiveness to these terrorist organizations, wherever they exist.”

The attack is likely to lead to a wave of violence in the country’s northwest, where front lines have been relatively calm since Russia and Turkey, who support rival sides in the country’s conflict, reached a cease-fire in March 2020 ending a three-month Russian-backed government offensive against insurgents.