Suicide attacks in Syria kill at least 220 people

The aftermath of a suicide attack in Syria.
(Image credit: SANA via AP)

At least 221 people were killed Wednesday in southwestern Syria, in what local officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group believe were coordinated attacks.

Multiple suicide bombings were carried out in Suweida, a government-controlled town south of the capital Damascus, as well as in villages to the north and east. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the bombings, and officials said militants also forced their ways into homes and killed the people inside. "It's the bloodiest death toll in Suweida province since the start of the war [in 2011]," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

ISIS has lost most of its territory in Syria, remaining in small areas of southern and eastern Syria.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.