At least 40 killed in twin blasts at Damascus intel compound, terrorists blamed (PHOTOS)

People run carrying a burnt body at the site of an explosion in Damascus May 10, 2012. (Reuters / Sana

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/syria-blasts-dead-opposition-886/

At least 40 people have been killed and 170 others injured by two powerful blasts in the Syrian capital on Thursday morning. The car bombs detonated near a military intelligence building.

The blasts happened just as employees were arriving at work. Ambulances are trying to reach the victims of what’s been branded a terrorist attack by the state television, AP reports.

A number of bomb attacks have happened in Syria since the UN-brokered ceasefire between loyalists troops and armed opposition forces was announced in mid-April.

The major latest attack occurred on April 27, when a bomber wearing a suicide vest set off an explosion near members of the security forces. The blast killed at least nine people and wounded 26.

On Wednesday, a roadside bomb went off in the country’s south-west, just seconds after the UN observer team head passed by with his convoy. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that such incidents cast doubt over the observer mission’s future.

Some foreign-based opposition groups have routinely been blaming the Bashar al-Assad government for masterminding these terrorist attacks to discredit the opposition. Damascus denies such allegations, saying radical militant groups funded, armed and trained by countries hostile to Syria are behind the violence.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia have admitted that they support Syrian opposition financially. It is believed that Turkey is turning a blind eye on armed groups using Syrian refugee camps on Turkish territory near the border to rest and regroup before moving into Syria.

It seems armed opposition groups, which failed to take control over any part of the country and turn it into their base of operation, are now resorting to guerilla tactics to attack the government. A ceasefire and political solution to the conflict are not in their interest, because they want nothing short of a total collapse of the Assad regime.

The Syrian government is seeking resolution of the violent crisis, which has been ravaging the country for 15 months, through political reform. This week it held a parliamentary election, the first ballot in decades involving competing political parties.


Smoke rises from the wreckage of mangled vehicles at the site of an explosion in Damascus May 10, 2012. (Reuters / Sana)


An image grab taken from Syrian state television shows Syrians inspecting charred corpses at the site of twin blasts in Damascus on May 10, 2012. (AFP Photo / SYRIAN TV)


People and security personnel try to remove a car from an explosion site in Damascus May 10, 2012. (Reuters / Sana)


Syrians inspect a crate at the site of twin blasts in Damascus on May 10, 2012. (AFP Photo / Louai Beshara)