45 killed in Syria twin bombings

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks, asserting in a social media message that “two soldiers” had struck Sayyda Zeinab, a largely Shiite district south of the capital, “harvesting” about 50 killed and 120 wounded.

Despite Western pressure to attend, the HNC had previously said it would not take part in the Geneva talks without an agreement on relief reaching hundreds of thousands of people stuck in besieged Syrian towns.

Syrian state news agency SANA, quoting an interior ministry source, said a group of militants had detonated a vehicle bomb near a public transport garage in the neighborhood’s Koua Sudan area.

Representatives of Syrian Kurds fighting against the Syrian government said they were not invited to join the Geneva meetings and will not be part of the peace talks.

The Syrian war, which has killed about 250,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes, has presented Europe with an escalated threat of terrorist attacks and a growing refugee problem.

Islamic State, an ultra-fundamentalist Sunni Muslim group that has overrun territory in Syria and Iraq, views Shiites as apostates and has engaged in numerous mass killings of Shiites and other Muslims whom they denounce as infidels. “In fact they don’t fight terrorism because they bring terrorism there and ISIS is spreading in many areas in Syria more than before because of these Russian strikes”, al-Mislet said, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group.

The United Nations has said it is aiming for six months of talks, first seeking a ceasefire and later working toward a political settlement for Syria. “I urge all parties to put the people of Syria at the heart of their discussions, and above partisan interests”, he said on a visit to Ethiopia.

The Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee, the main opposition group, has demanded an end to Russian airstrikes in support of Assad, a halt to government assaults on civilian areas, and the stopping of sieges of rebel-controlled towns and prisoner releases. “With the opposition’s delegation not showing up, it shows that they are not serious and irresponsible at a time when Syrians are being killed”.

Moscow has objected to two Islamist rebel groups, Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham, taking any part in the talks.

The delegation has named Army of Islam official Mohammed Alloush as its chief negotiator.

“This confirms what the Syrian government has said over and over again – that there is a link between terrorism and those who sponsor terrorism from one side and some political groups that pretend to be against terrorism”, he said.