Triple bombing kills dozens in Syria today; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Shi’ite leaders have exhorted followers to defend the shrine during the war.

The Syrian state news agency SANA has put the death toll from the attack at more than 50. Opposition groups also share the same view that both groups are considered as rebels although they do not believe the same ideologies.

The chaos has allowed IS militants to overrun swathes of the country and also in neighbouring Iraq, giving it a launchpad for a series of deadly attacks across the globe including the Paris massacres on November 13 which left 130 dead.

Syrians gather where three bombs exploded in Sayeda Zeinab, a predominantly Shiite Muslim suburb of Damascus on Sunday.

An AFP photographer said the explosions damaged the facade of a nearby building, scorching all of its six stories.

As the district holds religious significance to the Shiite people, Hezbollah sent fighters to protect the shrine and manned checkpoints sounding it.

On Sunday, de Mistura paid an informal visit to the HNC delegation, saying he is “optimistic and determined” about the talks. The military offensive and the continuing blockade of rebel areas has infuriated the opposition and thrown the future of the talks into question.

The U.N. estimates that over 486,000 people in Syria are living in besieged areas – over 274,000 are under the control of government forces, 200,000 people are under Islamic State control, and over 12,000 people are besieged by other groups.

Since mid-summer 2012, the district has been under frequent attacks and shelling by the ultra-radical rebels, who aim to attack the Shiite people due to their supportive stance towards the Syrian government and their religious background of the Shiite-Sunni conflict.

Speaking about the talks in Geneva, Kerry said: “I appeal to both sides to make the most of this moment, to seize the opportunity for serious negotiations, to negotiate in good faith with the goal of making concrete measurable progress in the days immediately ahead”.

The United States and European states have expressed relief at the opposition’s decision to attend the negotiations, which mark the most serious effort to end the conflict. “Without negotiations, the bloodshed will drag on until the last city is reduced to rubble and virtually every home, every form of infrastructure, and every semblance of civilization is destroyed”.

That will ensure an increased number of terrorists.

United Nations-sponsored talks to end the violence in Syria commenced with a shaky start in Geneva after a triple bomb attack in the Syrian capital, Damascus. The two men spoke by telephone Saturday as momentum stalled. “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.

“Absolutely, because this is part of the agenda that we agreed upon, and that will be one of the very important topics that we will discuss amongst ourselves as Syrian citizens”, Jaafari said Sunday. “And this has to happen not a week from now, not two weeks, not in a month”, he said.

In recent months, Jordan has permitted only several dozen refugees to enter each day, leading to rapidly growing crowds of Syrians, including women and children, who are stuck in two areas along the Syrian-Jordanian border.