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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Bombings in Damascus herald beginnings of a bloody new stage of Syrian insurgency |
| 2012-03-17 |
| Suicide bombers attacked two key secret police headquarters in Damascus on Saturday, killing 27 and leaving nearly 100 wounded, according to Syrian government sources. The bombings appeared to mark a dangerous new escalation in Syria's crisis, just weeks after the regime brutally crushed a rebel stronghold in the city of Homs. Government spokesmen were quick to blame Islamist terrorists for the attacks, which they said mainly killed and injured civilians. Many anti-regime activists believe similar bloody bombings since January have been staged to give the government an excuse to crack down. The explosions struck the aviation intelligence department - the most hated branch of Syria's police state - and the criminal security department, at around 7.30 am. The aftermath, shown in gruesome detail on Syrian state television, was pools of blood, body parts strewn across streets, and wrecked and burnt vehicles. The front of one building collapsed. "We heard a huge explosion. At that moment the doors in our house were blown out, even though we were some distance from the blast," one elderly man, with a bandage wrapped round his head, told Syrian television, which also showed what it said was the charred corpse of a terrorist in a burnt vehicle. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 Remember the proverb, You can't buy an Arab's loyalty. You only rent it. |
| Posted by: Phil_B 2012-03-17 21:58 |
| #6 The Paleos are pretty much guns for hire. Saddam had his paid for Paleo goons. But Syria is a Sunni Shiia fight and the Paleos are almost all Sunni. So I'd say the only pro-Iranian Paleos are the ones getting a paycheck from Tehran. Which could be quite a lot. |
| Posted by: Phil_B 2012-03-17 21:56 |
| #5 Are there any other kind, Phil B? |
| Posted by: Barbara 2012-03-17 21:33 |
| #4 Debka sez the bus was carrying pro-Iranian Paleos. |
| Posted by: Phil_B 2012-03-17 20:53 |
| #3 Possibley they were car bombs. Also, Â A Syrian official said there were reports of a third blast targeting a military bus at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, but there were no details. He asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to speak publicly. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2012-03-17 18:19 |
| #2 Watch it become a trend. |
| Posted by: newc 2012-03-17 17:15 |
| #1 the same type bombs Syria helped shuttle into Iraq. Karma - she's a bitch, no? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-03-17 15:08 |