Syria conflict: Dozens killed near Sayyida Zeinab shrine

There was another bombing on January 31, that killed at least 45 people, officials said.

More than 50 people were killed and 110 others wounded today in three bomb blasts near the revered Shiite shrine of Sayyida Zeinab outside the Syrian capital Damascus, state media said.

The area around the shrine has been targeted in previous bomb attacks, including in February 2015 when two suicide attacks killed four people and wounded 13 at a checkpoint.

NPR’s Alison Meuse, reporting from Beirut for our Newscast unit, says the Islamic State has claimed responsibility through its media outlets.

The attacks came as delegates from the Syrian government and opposition groups gathered in Geneva for tentative UN-sponsored peace talks.

An ISIS-affiliated website said the blasts were carried out by members of the extremist group, which controls large areas in both Syria and Iraq.

The shrine is protected by members of the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah group.

The shrine is important for Shia pilgrims as it contains the grave of one of the granddaughters of Prophet Muhammad.

Syria’s civil war has left more than 250,000 people dead since the conflict broke out in 2011.

Early on, the group cited the threat to Sayyida Zeinab as the motivation for its intervention in Syria’s conflict.

The Islamic State group has not been invited to attend talks.

A delegation of the main opposition group said it will not take part in the indirect talks until its demands are met, including lifting the siege imposed on rebel-held areas and an end to Russian and Syrian bombardment of regions controlled by opposition fighters.

HNC spokesman Salem al-Mislet told The Associated Press that the violence against civilians must stop first, saying the U.N. Security Council should put “pressure on Russian Federation to stop these crimes in Syria”, he said.

The Damascus delegation’s chief negotiator, Syria’s United Nations envoy Bashar al-Jaafari, accused the opposition of being “not serious” about the talks.