Damascus bomb explodes near UN observers' hotel, military site
Source: Agencies |
August 16, 2012, Thursday
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A BOMB exploded in central Damascus near military buildings and a hotel housing UN observers yesterday, wounding three people, and rebels clashed with security forces in the Syrian capital.
No UN staff were hurt in the blast, which occurred exactly four weeks after a bomb killed four of President Bashar Assad's top security officials, including his brother-in-law.
State media said three people were injured in the bombing and several rebels were killed or captured in the gun battle in the western district of Mezze. Opposition activists said the fighting erupted after insurgents attacked security checkpoints.
Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said the bomb blast proved "the criminal and barbaric nature of those who carry out these attacks - and their backers in Syria and abroad."
Firefighters were dousing a fuel tanker set ablaze when the bomb detonated at 8:30am in a car park behind the hotel. Ash and dust covered white UN vehicles parked nearby.
UN emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos, on a mission to seek more access for aid deliveries, was meeting European Union officials in Damascus when the bomb exploded.
She herself was unable to reach the town of Douma, a trouble spot just north of the capital, due to bombardment.
"Waiting at checkpoint to get into Duma. Sounds of shelling. Could not enter," Amos tweeted. The authorities told her she had been turned back for her own safety.
Although the Damascus bombing occurred close to the hotel, its target was not clear. The area is home to a Syrian army officers' club and a building belonging to the ruling Baath Party. It is also not far from the army command.
Groups calling themselves The Descendants of the Prophet Brigade and the al-Habib al-Mustafa Brigade said on a Facebook page they were jointly responsible and that the attack had killed 50 soldiers. It was impossible to verify that claim.
Syrian state media said Amos met Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem to discuss the growing needs of civilians affected by the "destruction of private and state property by terrorist armed groups" - the government's usual term for rebels.
In a sign of how the war in Syria affects its neighbors, a Shi'ite clan in Lebanon said it had kidnapped more than 20 Syrians there after rebels seized a kinsman in Damascus.
Clan member Maher al-Meqdad said the action was to win release of Hassan al-Meqdad, held for two days by Free Syrian Army rebels who said Hezbollah had sent him to Syria.
No UN staff were hurt in the blast, which occurred exactly four weeks after a bomb killed four of President Bashar Assad's top security officials, including his brother-in-law.
State media said three people were injured in the bombing and several rebels were killed or captured in the gun battle in the western district of Mezze. Opposition activists said the fighting erupted after insurgents attacked security checkpoints.
Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said the bomb blast proved "the criminal and barbaric nature of those who carry out these attacks - and their backers in Syria and abroad."
Firefighters were dousing a fuel tanker set ablaze when the bomb detonated at 8:30am in a car park behind the hotel. Ash and dust covered white UN vehicles parked nearby.
UN emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos, on a mission to seek more access for aid deliveries, was meeting European Union officials in Damascus when the bomb exploded.
She herself was unable to reach the town of Douma, a trouble spot just north of the capital, due to bombardment.
"Waiting at checkpoint to get into Duma. Sounds of shelling. Could not enter," Amos tweeted. The authorities told her she had been turned back for her own safety.
Although the Damascus bombing occurred close to the hotel, its target was not clear. The area is home to a Syrian army officers' club and a building belonging to the ruling Baath Party. It is also not far from the army command.
Groups calling themselves The Descendants of the Prophet Brigade and the al-Habib al-Mustafa Brigade said on a Facebook page they were jointly responsible and that the attack had killed 50 soldiers. It was impossible to verify that claim.
Syrian state media said Amos met Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem to discuss the growing needs of civilians affected by the "destruction of private and state property by terrorist armed groups" - the government's usual term for rebels.
In a sign of how the war in Syria affects its neighbors, a Shi'ite clan in Lebanon said it had kidnapped more than 20 Syrians there after rebels seized a kinsman in Damascus.
Clan member Maher al-Meqdad said the action was to win release of Hassan al-Meqdad, held for two days by Free Syrian Army rebels who said Hezbollah had sent him to Syria.
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