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© Aid to the Church in Need
World News

Christians students dead in Syrian car bomb

Local priest Fr Ziad Hilal said the young people had been attacked deliberately on 21 January around midday.

At least 50 people were also injured in the blast.

Fr Hilal said: "Most of them were students at the university, young people who had not left the city.

"So what sort of message does this attack send out now? I believe they were deliberately targeted."

It's not known who carried out the attack and no group has taken responsibility.

Fr Hilal added: "The attack was staged very close to our church and our aid centre. We do not know who was behind it, but it is a tragedy. The pictures of the attack are horrifying.

"We are visiting the families of the victims and trying to comfort them. But what can anyone say in such a situation? We ourselves are all deeply saddened and devastated."

Fr Hilal went on to appeal for prayers: "I call on all people...to pray for Syria and in particular for the victims of this terrible attack and their families."

In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need he also criticised the lack of coverage in the secular press: "Where is the reaction in the rest of the world? After the attacks in Paris all eyes were on France. But here?

"As far as I am aware, there has not been any reaction by anybody. Not a word. Only silence. Syria and the daily sufferings of its people are forgotten."

Homs is strategically important and has been fought over by government and opposition forces.

Since 2014 it has been under the control of the Syrian government, but continues to be the target of terror attacks.

In October 2014, more than 50 people died in a double bomb blast.

Over the past year a large proportion of the inhabitants of the city have fled their homes, among them more than 80,000 Christians.

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