Beirut:
Two "terrorist explosions" struck security targets in the Syrian capital on Saturday morning, killing a number of civilians and security forces, the country's state news agency said.
The report said preliminary information indicated the blasts were caused by car bombs that hit the aviation intelligence department and the criminal security department at around 7:30 a.m local time.
The state-run news agency, SANA, posted gruesome photographs of the scene, with mangled and charred corpses, bloodstains on the streets and twisted steel.
One year into the Syrian revolt, the fight to oust President Bashar Assad is transforming into a nascent civil war. The regime says it is fighting foreign terrorists and armed gangs, denying there is a popular will behind the revolt. But Mr Assad's opponents say they have been forced to carry weapons because the government used tanks, snipers and machine guns to crush peaceful protests.
Syria has seen a string of suicide bombings, the last major one on February 10, when twin blasts struck security compounds in the government stronghold city of Aleppo, killing 28 people.
Damascus, another Assad stronghold, has seen three suicide previous bombings since December.
The regime has touted the attacks as proof that it is being targeted by "terrorists." The opposition accuses forces loyal to the government of being behind the bombings to tarnish the uprising.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the explosions.
The U.N. estimates that more than 8,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Mr Assad began last March.
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 military's top leadership is stacked heavily with members of the minority Alawite sect, to which Mr Assad and the ruling elite belong, which has raised fears rising sectarian tensions.
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 on Friday that he would return to Damascus even though his recent talks with Mr Assad saw no progress in attempts to cobble together peace negotiations between the two sides.
After the confidential briefing via videolink, Mr 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 Mr 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," Mr Annan said.
Both Mr Assad and much of the opposition spurned Mr Annan's appeal for talks.
The report said preliminary information indicated the blasts were caused by car bombs that hit the aviation intelligence department and the criminal security department at around 7:30 a.m local time.
The state-run news agency, SANA, posted gruesome photographs of the scene, with mangled and charred corpses, bloodstains on the streets and twisted steel.
One year into the Syrian revolt, the fight to oust President Bashar Assad is transforming into a nascent civil war. The regime says it is fighting foreign terrorists and armed gangs, denying there is a popular will behind the revolt. But Mr Assad's opponents say they have been forced to carry weapons because the government used tanks, snipers and machine guns to crush peaceful protests.
Syria has seen a string of suicide bombings, the last major one on February 10, when twin blasts struck security compounds in the government stronghold city of Aleppo, killing 28 people.
Damascus, another Assad stronghold, has seen three suicide previous bombings since December.
The regime has touted the attacks as proof that it is being targeted by "terrorists." The opposition accuses forces loyal to the government of being behind the bombings to tarnish the uprising.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the explosions.
The U.N. estimates that more than 8,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Mr Assad began last March.
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 military's top leadership is stacked heavily with members of the minority Alawite sect, to which Mr Assad and the ruling elite belong, which has raised fears rising sectarian tensions.
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 on Friday that he would return to Damascus even though his recent talks with Mr Assad saw no progress in attempts to cobble together peace negotiations between the two sides.
After the confidential briefing via videolink, Mr 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 Mr 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," Mr Annan said.
Both Mr Assad and much of the opposition spurned Mr Annan's appeal for talks.
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