Syria: Damascus hit by two explosions
Two loud explosions targeted one of Syria's top military command buildings in the capital Damascus.
Image 1 of 2
The wreckage of the military administration building that partially collapsed following an explosion in the Syrian capital Damascus Photo: AFP
State media and residents said the explosions struck the General Staff Command Building (Hay'at al Arkan) in the Umayad Square in central Damascus, which is one of the top military headquarters in Syria.
The Free Syrian Army, the main rebel force fighting to overthow Assad, claimed responsibility for the attack which it said killed dozens of people.
But an armed forces statement said military leaders were unhurt and only a number of guards were wounded in the blasts.
The Syrian information minister said the attack had caused "only material damage" and that security forces were chasing "armed terrorists" - a term the authorities use to refer to insurgents waging a violent uprising to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Gunfire and other smaller blasts could be heard after the explosions, as well as the sound of ambulance sirens. Many roads in the centre of the capital were blocked, residents said.
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"The explosions were very loud. They shook the whole city and the windows of our house were shuddering," one resident reached by telephone said.
"Black smoke was seen rising from the area near the army staff building," the resident, who declined to be named, said.
A Damascus bomb attack on July 18 killed several top security officials, including Assad's brother-in-law, the defence and interior ministers. That attack paved the way for a rebel advance into the centre of the capital, although they have since been pushed back to the outskirts.
Another resident said: "I was woken up at four minutes to seven by the first loud explosion. Five or six minutes later there was a second."
"We're used to the sound of artillery but these were very big - bigger than usual. I can hear gunfire still," he said, speaking an hour and a half after the blasts.
He said one of the blasts appeared to have been in the area of the General Staff Command.
He said he could see soldiers stationed on the roof of the nearby Air Force Intelligence building.
Syria's conflict, once a peaceful protest movement, has evolved into a civil war that the U.N. special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said was "extremely bad and getting worse." He said the stalemate in the country could soon "find an opening", without elaborating.
Even Damascus has become a battleground between Assad's forces and opposition fighters.
Activists say more than 27,000 people have been killed in the 18-month-old uprising against Assad.
With no foreseeable prospect of foreign intervention and diplomacy stuck, outgunned rebels have relied increasingly on attacks with homemade bombs, striving to level the playing field against a state using fighter jets, artillery and tanks.
At the annual UN General Assembly in New York, French President Francois Hollande sought to shake up international inertia over Syria's crisis by calling for UN protection of rebel-held areas to help end Syria's bloodshed and rights.
"The Syrian regime ... has no future among us," Hollande said in a speech. "Without any delay, I call upon the United Nations to provide immediately to the Syrian people all the support it asks of us and to protect liberated zones."
Protection for "liberated" areas would require no-fly zones enforced by foreign aircraft, which could stop deadly air raids by Assad's forces on populated areas. But there is little chance of securing a Security Council mandate for such action given the continuing opposition of veto-wielding members Russia and China.
The United States, European allies, Turkey and Gulf Arab states have sided with the Syrian opposition while Iran, Russia and China have backed Assad, whose family and minority Alawite sect have dominated the major Arab state for 42 years.
But Western powers have shied away from supplying military aid to the rebels to an extent that could turn the tide of the conflict, in part out of fear of arming Islamist militants who have joined the anti-Assad revolt.
Source: Reuters
Two loud explosions targeted one of Syria's top military command buildings in the capital Damascus.
Image 1 of 2
The wreckage of the military administration building that partially collapsed following an explosion in the Syrian capital Damascus Photo: AFP
State media and residents said the explosions struck the General Staff Command Building (Hay'at al Arkan) in the Umayad Square in central Damascus, which is one of the top military headquarters in Syria.
The Free Syrian Army, the main rebel force fighting to overthow Assad, claimed responsibility for the attack which it said killed dozens of people.
But an armed forces statement said military leaders were unhurt and only a number of guards were wounded in the blasts.
The Syrian information minister said the attack had caused "only material damage" and that security forces were chasing "armed terrorists" - a term the authorities use to refer to insurgents waging a violent uprising to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Gunfire and other smaller blasts could be heard after the explosions, as well as the sound of ambulance sirens. Many roads in the centre of the capital were blocked, residents said.
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Three children from same family killed in Syria 24 Sep 2012
Syria rebel army shifts from Turkey 23 Sep 2012
"The explosions were very loud. They shook the whole city and the windows of our house were shuddering," one resident reached by telephone said.
"Black smoke was seen rising from the area near the army staff building," the resident, who declined to be named, said.
A Damascus bomb attack on July 18 killed several top security officials, including Assad's brother-in-law, the defence and interior ministers. That attack paved the way for a rebel advance into the centre of the capital, although they have since been pushed back to the outskirts.
Another resident said: "I was woken up at four minutes to seven by the first loud explosion. Five or six minutes later there was a second."
"We're used to the sound of artillery but these were very big - bigger than usual. I can hear gunfire still," he said, speaking an hour and a half after the blasts.
He said one of the blasts appeared to have been in the area of the General Staff Command.
He said he could see soldiers stationed on the roof of the nearby Air Force Intelligence building.
Syria's conflict, once a peaceful protest movement, has evolved into a civil war that the U.N. special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said was "extremely bad and getting worse." He said the stalemate in the country could soon "find an opening", without elaborating.
Even Damascus has become a battleground between Assad's forces and opposition fighters.
Activists say more than 27,000 people have been killed in the 18-month-old uprising against Assad.
With no foreseeable prospect of foreign intervention and diplomacy stuck, outgunned rebels have relied increasingly on attacks with homemade bombs, striving to level the playing field against a state using fighter jets, artillery and tanks.
At the annual UN General Assembly in New York, French President Francois Hollande sought to shake up international inertia over Syria's crisis by calling for UN protection of rebel-held areas to help end Syria's bloodshed and rights.
"The Syrian regime ... has no future among us," Hollande said in a speech. "Without any delay, I call upon the United Nations to provide immediately to the Syrian people all the support it asks of us and to protect liberated zones."
Protection for "liberated" areas would require no-fly zones enforced by foreign aircraft, which could stop deadly air raids by Assad's forces on populated areas. But there is little chance of securing a Security Council mandate for such action given the continuing opposition of veto-wielding members Russia and China.
The United States, European allies, Turkey and Gulf Arab states have sided with the Syrian opposition while Iran, Russia and China have backed Assad, whose family and minority Alawite sect have dominated the major Arab state for 42 years.
But Western powers have shied away from supplying military aid to the rebels to an extent that could turn the tide of the conflict, in part out of fear of arming Islamist militants who have joined the anti-Assad revolt.
Source: Reuters
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