State TV broadcast pictures of heavily damaged buildings and ambulances taking the injured away The Syrian government says more than 30 people have been killed in two suicide car bombings outside security service facilities in the capital, Damascus.
State TV earlier said suspected al-Qaeda militants had targeted bases of the General Security Directorate and another agency in the Kafr Sousa area.But opposition activists said the government had staged the attacks to influence an Arab League observer team.
They are part of a scheme aimed at ending the deadly crackdown on dissent.
The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed and thousands more detained since anti-government protests erupted in March.
The monitors are tasked with overseeing the government's compliance with an agreement that should see an end to violence by both sides, troops withdrawn from the streets and all detained protesters released.
Witnesses told the BBC that Friday's explosions emanated from the western Qaboun district of Damascus, close to Abbasiyyin Square, and from the Jamarek area of Mezzeh, an eastern district of the capital.
Continue reading the main story
Syria deaths
- More than 5,000 protesters have been killed
- UN denied access to Syria
- Information gathered from NGOs, sources in Syria and Syrian nationals who have fled
- The death toll is compiled as a list of names which the UN cross-references
- Vast majority of casualties were unarmed, but the figure may include armed defectors
- Tally does not include serving members of the security forces
The sound of gunfire was also reported in the central Malki district.
'Frightful' State TV said several soldiers and a large number of civilians were killed in two attacks "carried about by suicide bombers driving vehicles packed with explosives against bases of State Security [General Security Directorate] and another branch of the security services" in the upmarket Kfar Sousa district, south-west of the city centre."Preliminary investigations showed al-Qaeda was responsible," it added.
Video footage was broadcast of heavily damaged buildings, with rescue workers combing through burnt buildings and blood-stained debris, and ambulances taking the injured away.
"The explosions shook the house, it was frightful," said Nidal Hamidi, a Syrian journalist who lives in Kfar Sousa, told the Associated Press.
Syria's government insists that the trouble in the country is caused by "armed terrorist gangs" The state-owned news channel, al-Ikhbariya al-Suriya, said the first bomb targeted the offices of an unnamed security agency in Kafr Sousa.
Afterwards, a 4x4 vehicle filled with explosives approached the building in Kafr Sousa housing the General Security Directorate. When the guards inside went outside to inspect the aftermath of the first blast, the driver of the vehicle detonated the bomb, killing a number of guards and civilians, al-Ikhbariya al-Suriya reported.
The powerful General Security Directorate plays an important role in quelling internal dissent, and has been accused of widespread abuses.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says Syria's government insists that the unrest in the country is caused by "armed terrorist gangs"; that point is clearly underlined by the explosions.
Activists, who maintain their movement is peaceful, will undoubtedly regard the timing as deeply suspicious and accuse the government of staging the attacks, our correspondent adds.
No comments:
Post a Comment