ISIL claims responsibility for attack on Shiite shrine near Damascus

(Patria) - ISIL has announced it is behind a bombing south of Damascus in which at least
six people were killed and 20 injured, Reuters reported.

The explosion on Thursday was near the Sayeda Zeinab shrine in Damascus, the most visited Shiite pilgrimage site in Syria, and occurred ahead of the annual commemoration of Shiite Ashura.

In a statement on Telegram, the extremist group said that some of its fighters had breached the strict security imposed by the Syrian regime and militias guarding the shrine area. It states that they "managed to park and detonate a motorcycle bomb... during a gathering of Shiite pilgrims".

Authorities had tightened security measures around the shrine for the ten-day commemoration of Ashura, one of the most important in Shiite Islam. In the same message, ISIL claims responsibility for "another bombing" which it said targeted "a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims in the same area, injuring at least two and destroying the vehicle".

On Tuesday, two civilians were injured in a car explosion in the same area of the Syrian capital, official media reported, quoting a security official. Shiite shrines are frequent targets of attacks by extremists from the ISIL group, not only in Syria but also in neighboring Iraq.