Syria Blames Israeli Agency For Bombing

Syria blamed Israel’s secret service on Thursday for a bus bombing that ripped off the vehicle’s roof, shattered its windows and blew out the windows of nearby buildings, killing nine people and injuring 44.

It was Syria’s first comment on the New Year’s Eve blast on a bus bound for the northern city of Aleppo.

The official Syrian Arab News Agency accused the Mossad of setting off the explosion, saying: “This terrorist, criminal, cowardly act comes amid the escalation of Israeli threats by a number of Israeli officials lately aiming to kill the peace process.”

In Jerusalem, David Bar-Illan, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, termed the Syrian allegation “sheer nonsense.”

The U.S. State Department on Thursday warned Americans in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza that terror attacks were more likely in the next two weeks and that they should avoid public buses and crowds at bus stops.

The State Department also challenged Syria to provide evidence backing up its accusation.

“We certainly have no indication and no information available to us that the Israeli government had any relationship to this whatsoever,” department spokesman Nicholas Burns said.

Israel suspended peace talks with Syria in February amid a wave of suicide-bombings that Israeli authorities blamed on Palestinian militants. Israeli military officials have warned in recent weeks that war with the Jewish state’s neighbor was possible.

The Syrian statement, quoting an unidentified government source, said: “Mossad agents took the opportunity of preparations for celebrating the new year and the gathering of people … and put a bomb inside a bus, which exploded shortly after the bus began moving toward Aleppo.

“They add this crime to their file, which is full of organized terrorism,” the statement added.