Blasts kill at least 27 in Syrian capital

DAMASCUS, March 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 27 people were killed and another 97 reported injured when two suicide bombings occurred Saturday morning in a swift succession, targeting two security agencies in the capital of Damascus, Syria's Ministry of Health said in a televised statement.

The official news agency SANA said one blast took place at al- Jamarek roundabout, targeting the Criminal Security Department, while the other hit the al-Tahrir square connecting the Baghdad Street with al-Qassaa neighborhood, targeting the aviation Intelligence directorate.

The two bombings went off at around 7:35 am local time (GMT 0535) Saturday.

The blast site is seen in Damascus, Syria, on March 17, 2012. A total of 27 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded in two suicide bombings targeting security headquarters in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Saturday, Syrian Minister of Health Wael al-Halki said on state TV. (Xinhua/Hazim)

The intelligence directorate blast shattered buildings and burned some others as windows of buildings at a distance of 100 meters were also completely smashed. Outside the building, mutilated and torn bodies lay amid rubble, twisted debris and burned cars. Bystanders and ambulance workers used blankets and stretchers to carry blood-stained bodies into vehicles. The blast left a two meters' deep crater.

Human flesh was scattered on the ground and bloodstains were everywhere as rescue workers scrambled around a smoke-filled pile of debris and metal.

Xinhua cameraman at the site said, as rescue workers were trying to evacuate the wounded and clean the debris near aviation directorate, a series of shootings in the area took place, and some law-enforcement members were wounded. It was not clear who was shooting as people were prevented from moving closer.

Meanwhile, troops sealed off the area as ambulances rushed to the scene and a large plume of smoke clouded the area.

A resident, collapsing in tears, stormed out of his shattered apartment in front of the targeted aviation department and screamed "this is what they want ... a destruction ... may God destroy them."

No one claimed responsibility for the attacks yet.

At the site of the explosion in al-Jamarek roundabout, Xinhua reporters saw the department's facade totally shattered and a crater about two meters wide was left by the blast in front of the building. The building's windows were blasted out and shards of glass were strewn over the floor. The explosion knocked down part of the building's walls.

A civilian minibus at the site was riddled with shrapnel and blood was splattered on its seats, while trees were blackened from the explosion and some electricity poles crashed.

Later in the day, unnamed sources told Xinhua that a third explosion had hit the Palestinian camp of Yarmouk just outside Damascus.

According to the source, the attack was in the 30 street in the camp of Yarmouk, and happened almost at the same time as the previous two. There is no official account on the third blast.

Saturday's bombings are the latest in a string of suicide attacks that targeted military and security compounds in Syria's two largest cities of Damascus and Aleppo and claimed the lives of dozens of civilians and government personnel.

In the first suicide bombing in Syria, two bomb cars exploded near two intelligence agency compounds in Damascus on Dec. 23 last year, leaving 44 people killed. Exactly two weeks after, another suicide bomber detonated himself at a busy intersection at al- Midan neighborhood, killing 25 people.

On Feb. 10 2012, twin bombings carried out by suicide bombers hit the northern Aleppo province, and left at least 25 people killed.

The suicide bombings held the hallmark of al-Qaida, according to the Syrian government.

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Posted in: al-Jamarek, Al-Midan, alqaeda, Damascus, Suicide attack, Syria