Syrian state television reported, on Thursday, that an attack with marches on a military college after the end of an officers’ graduation ceremony in Homs Governorate caused a number of military and civilian deaths, which a Russian agency reported at least 54.

A statement issued by the Syrian Ministry of Defense said, "In furtherance of their criminal approach and their continuation of shedding Syrian blood, armed terrorist organizations supported by well-known international parties this afternoon targeted the graduation ceremony of military college officer students in Homs with drones carrying explosive ammunition, immediately after the ceremony ended."

She explained that the attack resulted in the killing of a number of civilians and soldiers and the injury of dozens of others, including critical injuries among the invited families, including women and children, in addition to a number of college students participating in the graduation.

While the Syrian Ministry of Defense did not give a specific number, the Russian "TASS" agency reported that the death toll from the attack that targeted the Military College was 54.

The Syrian Defense Forces explained: “The General Command of the Army and Armed Forces considers this cowardly terrorist act an unprecedented criminal act, and affirms that it will respond with full force and decisiveness to these terrorist organizations wherever they are found, and stresses holding accountable the planners and executors of this criminal act, for which they will pay dearly.”

The statement did not mention the identity of the officers killed in the attack. Local sources had previously said that ambulances transported the injured from the Military College in Homs to the military hospital after they were targeted by a march during the graduation ceremony for student officers.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that information indicated that Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas attended the ceremony, while there was no confirmation from an official source.

Sources of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that 7 were killed and more than 20 Syrian officers were injured in a violent explosion in the vicinity of the Military College in Homs, resulting from a drone attack, during the Military College’s graduation parade, while ambulances rushed to transport the wounded to the military hospital.