North Korea on Sunday condemned the deadliest attack on Syrian government forces in almost a decade as part of “hostile” forces’ efforts to overthrow the Bashar Assad regime, highlighting the close friendship between the two countries amid a changing political landscape.

Following Thursday’s drone strike on the Homs Military Academy’s graduation ceremony, a foreign ministry spokesperson reaffirmed Pyongyang’s solidarity with the Syrian government in a statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday.

“The recent hideous terrorist act was prompted by the sinister intention of the hostile forces inside and outside Syria who are seeking to