Syrian state TV reports blamed the explosions on “terrorists.”
DAMASCUS – Deadly explosions rocked parts of Damascus on Saturday with some of the targets being Syrian government facilities, witnesses and state television reported, CNN informs. At least 27 people were killed and 97 others were wounded in two blasts, state TV reported, quoting Syrian Health Minister Wael Halki. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said early indications were that two booby-trapped cars exploded in crowded areas. It put the death toll at 24, with 140 people injured and serious damage caused to surrounding buildings.One explosion occurred near the customs criminal investigations department, witnesses said. Another struck near the Air Force intelligence headquarters in Tahrir Square in a different area of the city. State TV reports blamed the explosions on “terrorists.” The explosion by the customs criminal investigations department was only a short distance from Umayyad Square, where state media reported Friday that huge numbers turned out to demonstrate in support of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.Twenty-two people were killed elsewhere in Syria Saturday, the LCC said, including a child, two military defectors and two people under torture. The child, 11, died in the city of Raqqa when security forces fired on a funeral procession, the LCC said. Eight other deaths occurred in Raqqa and five in Homs with others reported in Jabal al-Zawiyah, the town of Tremseh, in Hama province, and Inkhel, in Daraa province.Opposition activists also spoke about the aftermath of an attack in the Rifai district of Homs province this week, in which they said at least 32 children and two women were found, most of them injured. The latest violence comes a day after Kofi Annan, special joint U.N-Arab League envoy, briefed the U.N. Security Council Friday on the Syrian crisis via a private teleconference. Speaking to reporters afterward from Geneva, Annan said he was working hard to stop the yearlong violence in Syria and “get unimpeded access” for humanitarian relief.The former U.N. secretary-general said the situation in Syria is “much more complex” than that in Libya or other nations. “It’s a conflict in a region of the world that has seen many, many traumatic events. I think we need to handle the situation in Syria very, very carefully,” he said. “Any miscalculation that leads to major escalation will have impact in the region.”
