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Bus bomb in Syria kills six Lebanese Shia pilgrims and three others, al-Qaida claims credit

Dozens of others were injured in the blast, which detonated in a highly-policed section of Damascus.

By Fred Lambert
A handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows burning vehicles at the site of twin suicide bomber blasts in Damascus on May 10, 2012. A bus bombing on February 1, 2015 in the highly-policed medieval citadel of the city killed several Lebanese pilgrims. Al-Qaida's Nusra Front took credit for the attack. UPI
A handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows burning vehicles at the site of twin suicide bomber blasts in Damascus on May 10, 2012. A bus bombing on February 1, 2015 in the highly-policed medieval citadel of the city killed several Lebanese pilgrims. Al-Qaida's Nusra Front took credit for the attack. UPI | License Photo

DAMASCUS, Syria, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- A bomb blast on a bus killed between six and nine people in what was considered a relatively secure section of Damascus on Sunday, according to Syrian media and a human rights group.

At least nine people, including six Lebanese Shia pilgrims, died in the blast, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which gathers information from a network of sources on the ground.

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The Syrian Arab News Agency, a state-run news service, reported six fatalities and 24 injuries in the explosion, which went off in the highly-policed medieval citadel of Syria's capital.

Lebanese media also reported that six Lebanese pilgrims were killed in the blast while being transported between holy sites.

The Nusra Front, al-Qaida's fighting force in Syria, reportedly claimed credit for the attack.

Police told SANA the bomb originated from a package left inside the bus on the floor. The explosion ripped off the entire front portion of the vehicle, and officers diffused another 5 kg explosive found later in the bus's rear section. SANA reported that a majority of the casualties were Lebanese.

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Lebanese militant group Hezbollah reportedly condemned the attack, citing it as "part of a series of bombings that targeted visitors in Syria and civilians in Iraq and the prayers in Pakistan, claiming the lives of scores of martyrs." Other Lebanese figures blamed Israel.

The civil war in Syria claimed the lives of 2,683 people in Jan. 2015, including 750 civilians, according to SOHR.

Since 2011 when the conflict began, Shia powers such as Iran and Hezbollah have backed Alawite President Bashar al-Assad, who has battled an increasingly fragmented set of moderate rebels and extremist Sunni groups, such as Nusra Front and the Islamic State.

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