Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

Deadly car bomb explodes in Syrian city of Aleppo

By Lucy FIELDER (video) News Wires (text)

France 24, March 18, 2012

AP -

An explosion ripped through a residential neighborhood in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday and the state news agency said it was a “terrorist bombing.”

Reports by SANA said two were killed and 30 wounded in what appeared to be the second attack in two days on cities where President Bashar Assad’s regime enjoys strong support. Three suicide bombings in the capital Damascus on Saturday killed 27 people. The government blamed those on the opposition, which it claims is made up of “terrorist” groups carrying out a foreign conspiracy.

No one claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

Mohammed Saeed, an Aleppo resident, said a car bomb exploded near the Political Security Directorate in the city’s central neighborhood of Suleimaniyeh. He said the neighborhood has a large Christian population. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on an activist network in Syria, also said it was a car bomb. It said it had reports of dead and injured, but gave no numbers.

Saeed said the explosion went off around 1 p.m. and security forces started shooting in the air and cordoned off the area to prevent people from approaching. At that time of day, the area is usually crowded with people, especially on a Sunday, the first day of Syria’s workweek, he added.

“It was a strong explosion. It shook parts of the city,” Saeed said, citing nearby residents. “White smoke was billowing from the area.”

Some opposition leaders accused the regime of orchestrating the attacks to tarnish the anti-government movement behind the year-old uprising against Assad.

Both cities are considered Assad strongholds and have remained relatively insulated from the unrest shaking much of the country since the start of the uprising.

Assad security forces have violently cracked down on dissent as protests have spread. Many in the opposition have taken up arms to defend their towns and neighborhoods and attack government troops, as the increasingly militarized conflict has become one of the bloodiest of the Arab Spring.

The U.N. says more then 8,000 people have been killed in a year.

There have been a string of large-scale bombings near government security buildings in Damascus and Aleppo that suggest a dangerous, wild-card element to the anti-government revolt. The regime has blamed the opposition, which denies any role or the capabilities to carry out sophisticated attacks.

After other similar attacks, U.S. officials suggested al-Qaida militants may be joining the fray.

A previously unknown Islamist group calling itself Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant claimed responsibility for previous attacks in a video posted online, saying it carried them out “to avenge the people of Homs.” Homs is an opposition stronghold in central Syria that has been hard-hit in the government crackdown.

The last major suicide bombing in Aleppo was on Feb. 10, when twin blasts struck security compounds, killing 28 people. Damascus has seen a half dozen suicide bombings since December, most hitting intelligence and security buildings.

On Saturday, two suicide bombers detonated cars in near-simultaneous attacks on heavily guarded intelligence and security buildings, killing at least 27 people.

The explosions struck the heavily fortified air force intelligence building and the criminal security department, several miles apart, at approximately the same time, the Interior Ministry said. Much of the facade of the intelligence building appeared to have been ripped away.

State-run news agency SANA said a third blast went off near a military bus at the Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk in Damascus, killing the two suicide bombers.

'Deadly blasts' hit security buildings in Damascus

Syrian state TV reported Saturday that two car bombs struck security targets in Damascus, killing several civilians and security forces, as the year-long uprising against President Assad develops into a nascent civil war.

By News Wires (text)

AP -

Twin car bombs struck intelligence and security buildings in the Syrian capital on Saturday, killing at least 27 people and wounding nearly 100, according to state media. State TV, citing the health minister, said the death toll could rise. Gruesome images of the scene were aired, with mangled and charred corpses, bloodstained streets and twisted steel.

“All our windows and doors are blown out,” said Majed Seibiyah, 29, who lives in the area. “I was sleeping when I heard a sound like an earthquake. I didn’t grasp what was happening until I hear screaming in the street.”

The blasts were the latest in a string of mysterious, large-scale attacks targeting the Syrian regime’s military and security installations. The previous blasts, all suicide bombings, killed dozens of people since December, even as the regime wages a bloody crackdown against the year-old uprising against President Bashar Assad.

The government has blamed the explosions on the “terrorists” that it claims are behind the revolt. The opposition has denied any role, saying they believe forces loyal to the government are behind the bombings to tarnish the uprising.

But top U.S. intelligence officials also have pointed to al-Qaida in Iraq as the likely culprit behind the previous bombings, raising the possibility its fighters are infiltrating across the border to take advantage of the turmoil.

Al-Qaida’s leader called for Assad’s ouster in February.

A suspected al-Qaida presence creates new obstacles for the U.S., its Western allies and Arab states trying to figure out a way to help push Assad from power, and may also rally Syrian religious minorities, fearful of Sunni radicalism, to get behind the regime.

Bassma Kodmani, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, said she doubted armed groups trying to bring Assad down by force, such as the rebel Free Syrian Army, have the capacity to carry out such attacks on security institutions in the capital.

“I don’t think any of the opposition forces or the free Syrian army has the capacity to do such an operation to target these buildings because they are fortresses,” she said by telephone. “They are very well guarded. There is no way anyone can penetrate them without having strong support and complicity from inside the security apparatus.”

According to SANA, preliminary information indicated two blasts were caused by car bombs that hit the aviation intelligence department and the criminal security department at 7:30 a.m local time. Shooting broke out soon after the blast and sent residents and others who had gathered in the area fleeing, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said.

A Syrian official also said there were reports of a third blast Saturday targeting a military bus at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, but there were no details. He asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The Syrian government denies there is a popular will behind the uprising, saying foreign extremists and gangs are trying to destroy the country. But his opponents deny that and say an increasingly active rebel force has been driven to take up arms because the government used tanks, snipers and machine guns to crush peaceful protests.

The U.N. estimates that more that 8,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad began last March.

The last major suicide bombing in Syria happened on Feb. 10, when twin blasts struck security compounds in the government stronghold of Aleppo in northern Syria, killing 28 people. Damascus, another Assad stronghold, has seen three suicide previous bombings since December.

In recent weeks, Syrian forces have waged a series of heavy offensives against the main strongholds of the opposition _ Homs in central Syria, Idlib in the north and Daraa in the south.

The bloodshed fuels the country’s sectarian tensions. The military’s top leadership is stacked heavily with members of the minority Alawite sect, to which Assad and the ruling elite belong.

Sunnis are the majority in the country of 22 million and make up the backbone of the opposition.

Diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis have so far brought no result. But U.N. envoy Kofi Annan told the Security Council in a briefing Friday that he would return to Damascus even though his recent talks with Assad saw no progress in attempts to cobble together peace negotiations between the two sides.

After the confidential briefing via videolink, Annan told reporters in Geneva that he urged the council « to speak with one voice as we try to resolve the crisis in Syria. » Russia and China have blocked U.N. action against Assad’s regime.

“The first objective is for all of us to end the violence and human rights abuses and the killings and get unimpeded access for humanitarian access to the needy, and of course the all-important issue of political process that will lead to a democratic Syria,” Annan said.

Both Assad and much of the opposition spurned Annan’s appeal for talks.

Mission headed to Syria to push peace proposals, Annan says

Joint UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan (left) said Friday that a team arriving in Damascus this weekend will look at creating a monitoring mission and push peace proposals despite a "disappointing" response from President Bashar al-Assad (right).

By News Wires (text)

AP - U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan warned Friday the Syria conflict can have a “serious impact” regionally if not handled properly, saying he plans to return to the nation after an advance team makes preparations.

The Security Council, the U.N.’s most powerful body, has been deeply divided over Syria. Moscow and Beijing have protected President Bashar Assad’s government from U.N. sanctions over its yearlong crackdown on protesters, which has left more than 8,000 people dead.

“The first objective is for all of us to end the violence and human rights abuses and the killings and get unimpeded access for humanitarian access to the needy, and of course the all-important issue of political process that will lead to a democratic Syria, fulfilling the aspirations of the Syrian people,” Annan said.

Annan, a former U.N. secretary-general who is the joint U.N. and Arab League special envoy, spoke after providing a confidential briefing by video link to the Security Council in New York.

“I encouraged the council to speak with one voice as we try to resolve the crisis in Syria,” he told reporters at the U.N.’s European headquarters in Geneva. “There have been some differences, but that is also normal.”

Russia and China, both permanent members of the Security Council, have blocked action against Syrian Assad’s regime. They have vetoed two U.S. and European-backed Security Council resolutions that would have condemned Assad’s bloody crackdown, saying they were unbalanced and demanded that only the government stop attacks, not the opposition. Moscow, a longtime Syrian ally, has also accused Western powers of fueling the conflict by backing the rebels.

“I told the Security Council we were talking with the Syrians and the talking continues,” Annan told reporters in Geneva. “As long as you believe the discussions and the talks you are having are meaningful, I think you should continue.”

But resolving the crisis in “Syria will be much more complex” than Libya, he said.

“If you come to the conclusion or make the judgement that it’s a waste of time -- or one side is playing for time -- you draw the consequences and take appropriate action,” he added.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry told the Security Council on Friday that Damascus will continue its crackdown, but also will cooperate with Annan, fueling fears among humanitarian groups that Assad merely wants more time to stamp out the opposition.

In Moscow, Russia said Friday it has encouraged the Syrian government to cooperate with Annan as he tried to help end the violence and urged the West to do the same with the Syrian rebels.

Annan met twice with Assad last weekend and made proposals to end the bloodshed.

While in Syria, Annan recounted, he talked not only with Assad and the foreign minister, but also with opposition, religious and civil society leaders along with business people and the head of the Syrian National Council in Ankara, Turkey.

He said the opposition figures he met were keen to get talks going to resolve differences politically and peacefully, but were “impatient” because the killings have continued and they are frustrated, angry and want to see results.

“The region is extremely concerned about developments in Syria. Their concern goes beyond Syria itself, because the crisis can have serious impact for the whole region if it’s not handled effectively. I’m doing my best with the support of everyone to try and find a peaceful solution,” he said.

Annan said his team would prepare the way for him to return, though he did not set an exact date. “I will be sending a team in this weekend to pursue the discussions and the proposals we left on the table. And at the appropriate time, when I deem sufficient progress has been made, I shall be prepared to go back to the region,” he said.

His spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, told The Associated Press that Annan has decided to send a mission to Damascus as soon as possible to discuss practical steps to implement his proposals including an immediate cessation of the violence and ways to monitor a ceasefire.

Diplomats said Annan told the council that the stronger and more unified its message, the better the chances of shifting the dynamics of the conflict. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Annan’s briefing was private.

Annan said Syria’s response to his proposals has been disappointing so far, which is why the technical team will be continuing talks in Damascus.

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, the current council president, refused to discuss details of Annan’s briefing but said the council strongly supported his mission and was discussing a possible resolution to support it.