Syria: Twin Suicide Bombs Shake Capital, 40 Dead, wound 100 in Damascus

At least 40 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in two suicide car bombings in Syria's capital, Damascus, officials say.

State TV said suspected al-Qaeda militants had targeted a General Security Directorate base and another security agency in the Kafr Sousa area.
But opposition activists said the government had staged the attacks to influence an Arab League observer team.

The observers are part of a plan to end the deadly crackdown on dissent.
The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed and thousands more detained since anti-government protests erupted in March.
The monitors are tasked with overseeing the government's compliance with an agreement that should see an end to violence by both sides, troops withdrawn from the streets and all detained protesters released.
But human rights and opposition activists said the killings continued on Friday, with security forces shooting dead at least 12 civilians.



The US state department on Friday condemned the attacks but said they must not deter the Arab League observers from doing their work.
'Al-Qaeda infiltration' The two explosions happened within minutes of each other on Friday morning.

According to BBC News reporter in damascus, Lina Sinjab

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"The two explosions are unprecedented. Many people were surprised that within 20 minutes, the government had ascertained that the blasts were the results of al-Qaeda attacks.
It is hard to tell what the reaction of the Syrian government will be, after days of major assaults by the security forces in the Jabal al-Zawiya area of northern Idlib province. Hundreds of people have been killed there since the government signed a protocol with the Arab League, allowing for the deployment of an observer mission.
Many are also asking why the blasts happened a day after the observers' advance party arrived. The opposition and protesters, who are once again taking to the streets, blame the government, saying it is attempting to persuade the observers that there are terrorists operating inside the country"


Omar Idilbi, a member of the Syrian National Council, an umbrella group of regime opponents, called the explosions “very mysterious because they happened in heavily guarded areas that are difficult to be penetrated by a car.”
“The presence of the Arab League advance team of observers pushed the regime to give this story in order to scare the committee from moving around Syria,” he said, though he stopped short of accusing the regime in the blasts. “The second message is an attempt to make the Arab League and international public opinion believe that Syria is being subjected to acts of terrorism by members of Al Qaeda.”

The blasts went off outside the main headquarters of the General Intelligence Agency and a branch of the military intelligence, two of the most powerful of Syria’s multiple intelligence bodies.
Outside the two buildings, mutilated and torn bodies lay amid rubble, twisted debris and burned cars in Damascus’ upscale Kfar Sousa district. Bystanders and ambulance workers used blankets and stretchers to carry bloodstained bodies into vehicles. All the windows were shattered in the military intelligence building.
The two blasts went off within moments of each other in the morning Friday, a weekend day, echoing across the city.
“The explosions shook the house, it was frightful,” said Nidal Hamidi, 34, a Syrian journalist who lives in Kfar Sousa. He said gunfire was heard immediately following the explosion and said apartment windows in a 200-yard (meter) radius from the explosions were shattered.

With the arrival of Arab observers, the government has been eager to make its case, saying Thursday that 2,000 of its security personnel and soldiers have been killed in the turmoil.
The regime has said the observer team will vindicate its claims that terrorists are behind the violence. Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said it is in the interests of Syria for the observers to come and see what is really happening in the country.

Throughout the turmoil, Assad’s regime has insisted the uprising is the work of terrorists and armed gangs backed by foreign powers trying to topple the state. It has also warned that the upheaval will throw the country into chaos, religious extremism and sectarian divisions. Assad and his inner circle belong to Syria’s Alawite minority, and that community — a Shiite offshoot — and minority Christians particularly fear reprisals from the Sunni majority.

Haifa Nashar, a 45-year-old Alawite living in Kfar Sousa, was shocked and wailing and she stood taking in the scene outside the building.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life, may God curse their souls!” she cried. She denounced Qatar, the Arab Gulf nation that has been at the forefront of criticism of Syria and pushed for Arab League sanctions against it.
“This is what Hamad wants,” she said, referring to Qatar’s prime minister. “There was never any difference between Syrians, Sunnis, Christians and Alawites. But if this is what they want, then I say Alawites before anyone else.”

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