Dozens dead in attack on Syria military academy

More than 60 people were killed yesterday in a drone attack on a military academy in Syria's Homs, a war monitor said, revising a previous toll.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor with a vast network of sources in Syria, reported "more than 60 dead, including military personnel and at least nine civilians", and dozens more wounded.

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A military statement carried by official news agency SANA said that "armed terrorist organisations" targeted "the graduation ceremony for officers of the military academy in Homs", a government-held city in central Syria.

The statement said there were "a number of deaths, both civilians and military, and dozens of wounded", some critically, including officers and their families.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

According to the military statement, the attack with "explosive-laden drones" took place "immediately after the ceremony ended".

The general command of the army and the armed forces decried the "cowardly... unprecedented" attack and said it would "respond with full force... to these terrorist organisations wherever they are", according to the statement.

Syria's 12-year-long war broke out after President Bashar al-Assad's repression of peaceful anti-government demonstrations in 2011 escalated into a deadly conflict that pulled in foreign powers and global jihadists.

The conflict has killed more than 500,000 people and driven half the country's pre-war population from their homes.