Officials in Syria say at least 80 people were killed Thursday when a drone strike hit a graduation ceremony for army officers in the city of Homs.
The Associated Press, citing Syria’s health minister, reports at least 240 people were wounded in the attack. It is unclear who is responsible for the carnage.
The army confirmed that drones strapped with explosives targeted the graduation ceremony as it drew to a close. Army officials did not provide an official tally of the casualties, except to say that women and children are among those in critical condition.
Syria’s government has called for a three-day state of mourning, which will begin Friday.
The military blamed extremists "backed by known international forces" for the attack, without singling out any particular entity, and promised that "it will respond with full force and decisiveness to these terrorist organizations, wherever they exist."
After the attack, the government bombed towns in Idlib, a rebel-held northwestern province. How many casualties resulted from the shellings there is unknown.
Earlier on Thursday, the government shelled another village in the area, hitting a family house and killing an elderly woman and four of her children as well as aid workers, according to the White Helmets, a volunteer civil defense organization working in northwestern Syria.
The White Helmets said that nine civilians were also wounded.
The country’s northwest is occupied by al-Qaida-linked militants and Turkish-sponsored opposition fighters. Most who live there are in extreme poverty and rely on humanitarian aid to survive.
Also on Thursday, drones attacked oil production plants, electrical substations and a dam in the Hassakeh and Qamishli provinces of northeastern Syria, which are held by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
Local authorities said that six SDF fighters and two civilians died in the bombardment.
A U.N. spokesperson said Thursday that Secretary-General António Guterres "is deeply concerned about the drone attack on a military academy graduation ceremony in Homs" and is "deeply concerned about reports of retaliatory shelling on multiple locations in northwest Syria and emerging reports of casualties."
The spokesperson also called on all sides to protect civilians, saying that Guterres "strongly condemns all violence in Syria and urges all parties to respect their obligations under international law."
According to Reuters, Syria's defense minister attended the ceremony but left minutes before the attack, according to "a Syrian security source and a security source in the regional alliance backing the Damascus government against opposition groups."
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
