Fifty killed in twin blasts in Syria
11 May 2012 5:30 AM GMT
Two strong explosions ripped through the Syrian capital on Thursday, killing more than 50 people and leaving scenes of carnage in the streets in an assault against a centre of government power, officials said. Syria's state-run TV said 170 people were wounded in what one official said may have been the most powerful of a series of blasts that have hit the capital this year.
The explosions, which ripped the facade off a military intelligence building, happened at about 7:50 am when employees are usually arriving at work. The building is part of a broader military compound for a feared section of the intelligence services known as the Palestine Branch.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene said paramedics wearing rubber gloves were collecting human remains from the streets after the explosions. Heavily damaged cars and pickup trucks stood smoldering in the area. The outer wall of the headquarters collapsed and some walls crumbled, although the basic structure inside appeared intact.
The Syrian government blamed 'terrorists' and said dozens were killed or wounded, most of them civilians. Maj Gen Robert Mood, the Norwegian head of the UN observer team in the country, toured the site and said the Syrian people do not deserve this 'terrible violence'.
'It is not going to solve any problems,' he said, when asked what his message was to those who are carrying out such attacks. 'It is only going to create more suffering for women and children.'
Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi posted a message on his Facebook page urging people to go to hospitals to donate blood, saying that today's blast 'might be the strongest' of a wave of explosions that have hit Damascus since late December.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has decided to extend the existing sanctions on Syria for one year, citing the 'unusual and extraordinary threat' posed by the Arab nation to US national security. In a notice sent to the Congress, the president has stated that the actions and policies being pursued by the Syrian government 'continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the nation security.
The explosions, which ripped the facade off a military intelligence building, happened at about 7:50 am when employees are usually arriving at work. The building is part of a broader military compound for a feared section of the intelligence services known as the Palestine Branch.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene said paramedics wearing rubber gloves were collecting human remains from the streets after the explosions. Heavily damaged cars and pickup trucks stood smoldering in the area. The outer wall of the headquarters collapsed and some walls crumbled, although the basic structure inside appeared intact.
The Syrian government blamed 'terrorists' and said dozens were killed or wounded, most of them civilians. Maj Gen Robert Mood, the Norwegian head of the UN observer team in the country, toured the site and said the Syrian people do not deserve this 'terrible violence'.
'It is not going to solve any problems,' he said, when asked what his message was to those who are carrying out such attacks. 'It is only going to create more suffering for women and children.'
Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi posted a message on his Facebook page urging people to go to hospitals to donate blood, saying that today's blast 'might be the strongest' of a wave of explosions that have hit Damascus since late December.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has decided to extend the existing sanctions on Syria for one year, citing the 'unusual and extraordinary threat' posed by the Arab nation to US national security. In a notice sent to the Congress, the president has stated that the actions and policies being pursued by the Syrian government 'continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the nation security.
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