An explosion hit the police station of the city of Ankhal in Daraa on Thursday, killing a number of leaders in the Syrian opposition, most prominently the local administration minister in the Syrian temporary government, Yacoub al-Amar, and commanders in the Free Syrian Army, according to the Ahrar Houran rebel group.
On its official Facebook page, the temporary Syrian government mourned the minister Amar and said that he had “been martyred with a group as a result of an insidious blast in the city of Ankhal in Daraa province.”
Media activist Abou Mahmoud al-Hourani said that an Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up at a meeting of about 50 people. He told Alsouria Net that the meeting included judges, leaders in the Free Syrian Army, and civilians.
A media activist in Daraa, Ahmed al-Musallama, told Alsouria Net that preliminary reports indicated that a number of people had been killed, including the head of the police station, Fadi al-Fashtaki, and Samer al-Haqqati, Yasser al-Badeea, Ghassab al-Eid (head of the military council in Ankhal), Daeeya al-Eissa, Samer al-Wadi, Iham al-Eid, Sameh al-Bahari, Ahmed al-Zamal, and Nazeer al-Tarad al-Reeabi.
Among those wounded severely were Mohamed Matheeb, head of the local council for Daraa province, Asmat al-Abassi, head of the House of Justice (an opposition judicial body in Daraa), while there were also reports that Othman Jaddi was injured in the attack.
Pages close to the Islamic State group claimed the attack on social media sites. It was not possible to verify the claims.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
