AN EXPLOSION yesterday killed up to 26 people and wounded 46 in the central Damascus Maidan neighbourhood, the scene of frequent anti-regime protests following Friday prayers.
Interior minister Muhammad Shaar said a suicide bomber was responsible for the attack, which occurred two weeks after co-ordinated blasts in the capital killed 44 and wounded 166. “He detonated himself with the aim of killing the largest number of people,” Mr Shaar stated.
The target appeared to be a minibus carrying policemen dispatched to contain protesters. Both officers and bystanders were among the casualties. A second device reportedly went off in the suburb of Tal, killing a girl, while a third was said to have been defused.
The suicide bombings amount to a departure from the type of violent events that have taken place since anti-government demonstrations erupted last March. The military crackdown on protests has been characterised by beatings, detentions, shootings, and tank fire into restive neighbourhoods while armed opponents and army defectors have mounted attacks with firearms on loyalist troops and rocketed military installations.
Col Riad al-Assad, commander of the defectors’ Free Syrian Army, denied responsibility for the bombing, arguing that it “does not have the experience to carry out such explosions”. However, defecting sappers would have the expertise to rig bombs. Col Assad – who does not control disparate groups of deserters operating far from his base in Turkey – has called for stepped-up operations if the crackdown does not end soon.
Opposition spokesmen have accused the government of carrying out the bombing in order to prove to Arab League monitors that Syria is a victim of a foreign-sponsored conspiracy involving “armed gangs” and al-Qaeda. The monitors, who arrived on December 27th, are tasked with overseeing compliance with the League peace plan which calls for an end to all violence, withdrawal of troops from urban areas and freeing of prisoners.
Mission chief Lt Gen Mustafa Dabi observed that the monitors have not yet reached “a conclusion” but once the 100-member team has probed incidents throughout the country, “I think we will be able to draw our conclusions.” A League committee dealing with the crisis is set to meet today in Cairo to discuss calls for the mission to be withdrawn although a decision will not be taken until later. League chief Nabil El Araby has asked Damascus-based Palestinian Hamas leader, Khaled Mishaal, to press for a halt to violence.
Activists said 19 people were killed by security forces, excluding the toll from the bombing.
