The initial tally of the casualties caused by the kamikaze drone attack on a military academy in Homs, Syria, is at 80 martyrs, including six women and six children, Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash said Thursday. 240 others were injured as a result of the attack.

"Armed terrorist organizations targeted the graduation ceremony for officers of the military academy in Homs", a military statement reported on by the state-owned SANA news agency said.

The Syrian Arab Army decried the "cowardly... unprecedented" attack and underlined that they would "respond fiercely to all terrorist organizations wherever they are," pledging to hold the perpetrators and the masterminds behind the attack accountable.

A few minutes prior to the tragedy 💔.
Rest in peace.#RevengeforMilitaryAcademy. pic.twitter.com/6dxcLBbKRQ

— Majd Fahd 🇸🇾 (@Syria_Protector) October 5, 2023

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

In the wake of the attack, Damascus declared three days of official mourning for the martyrs of the terrorist attack. 

نحنُ نولدُ باستمرار، ونحيا على الدوام ،نحنُ لا نموت، أرواحنا كل يوم هي في بعث جديد وفيض لا يبيد.
فوالله لا تمحو ذكرنا .#سوريا #الجيش pic.twitter.com/EscV1hfgeb

— Waed ge (@wamejn) October 5, 2023

Iran condemns terrorist act

The Iranian foreign ministry commented on the attacks after they happened, condemning the terrorist attack that targeted the military academy.

Tehran held "the backers of terrorist organizations" for the harrowing incident.

A high-ranking security source denied circulating reports to the Russian news agency Sputnik about Syria's Defense Minister attending the ceremony and being there when the attack took place.

في #ليلة_الشهداء، #ليلة_الجمعة الرحمة للشهداء الهجوم الارهابي في مدينة #حمص#الكلية_الحربية #سوريا pic.twitter.com/K5yZKc9qtj

— Ahmad Farhat | أحمد فرحات (@AhmadAc7890) October 5, 2023

According to the source, the minister of defense attended the ceremony and left as soon as it ended, whereas the terrorist attack took place 21 minutes after the ceremony ended.

Sources said the attack occurred while the graduating students were taking souvenir photos with their families on the occasion of graduation.

The attack comes one day after the Syrian Arab Army units targeted the headquarters of armed groups across Idlib's countryside in northern Syria. 

As a result of the heavy artillery targeting the groups, a number were killed and others were wounded. Simultaneously, the Syrian army announced they had shot down two drones belonging to armed groups in northern Aleppo.

The Syrian Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday in a statement published via its website that "units of the Syrian army targeted terrorist headquarters in the Idlib countryside, and shot down two drones in the northern countryside of Aleppo."

The ministry's statement added that, as part of the response to the repeated attacks by the armed groups targeting safe villages and towns alongside Syrian Arab Army military posts across Hama and Idlib, "units of the Syrian army carried out concentrated attacks on terrorist headquarters, their fortifications, and their artillery positions."