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Bomb explosion rocks Damascus UN hotel, Syria's state TV reports Bomb explosion rocks Damascus UN hotel
(about 1 hour later)
A bomb attached to a fuel truck has exploded outside a Damascus hotel where UN observers were staying in the Syrian capital, wounding at least three people, Syria's state TV reported. A bomb exploded in central Damascus on Wednesday near several military buildings and a hotel housing UN observers, wounding three people and sending a pillar of black smoke into the sky above the Syrian capital.
The reports said the explosion took place near a car park used by the army command about 300 metres away. None of the wounded was believed to be UN staff. No UN staff were hurt in the blast, which occurred exactly four weeks after a bomb killed four of Bashar al-Assad's top security officials, including his brother-in-law.
But according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene, the blast went off inside a different car park belonging to a military compound near the Dama Rose Hotel, popular with the UN observers in Syria. The Syrian deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, told reporters at the scene that the bombing proved "the criminal and barbaric nature of those who carry out these attacks – and their backers in Syria and abroad".
The hotel was slightly damaged in the blast, with some of its windows shattered. A labour union building across the road was also damaged and black smoke was seen billowing into the sky before the fire was extinguished. Firefighters were dousing a fuel tanker set ablaze when the bomb detonated at 8.30am local time in a car park behind the hotel. Ash and dust covered white UN vehicles parked nearby.
UN officials in Damascus had no immediate comment. The UN emergency relief co-ordinator, Valerie Amos, on a mission to seek more access for aid deliveries, was meeting EU officials in Damascus when the bomb exploded.
The Syrian capital has been hit by a wave of explosions in recent months as clashes between government troops and rebels reached the city, which had been relatively quiet since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March last year. Although the explosion occurred close to the hotel, its target was not clear. The area is home to a Syrian army officers' club and a building belonging to the ruling Ba'ath party. It is also not far from the army command.
Activists say more than 20,000 people have been killed since then and the conflict has turned into a full-out civil war. Groups calling themselves The Descendants of the Prophet Brigade and the al-Habib al-Mustafa Brigade said on a Facebook page they were jointly responsible for the bombing, which they said had killed 50 soldiers. Competing rebel groups often claim attacks and it is usually unclear who was actually behind them.
"Those who carry out such terrorist attacks are destroying their country in order to get some pounds," shouted Ali Mohammed Ismail, 48, who said he happened to be in the area when the explosion occurred. Assad's troops launched a successful counter-offensive last month against insurgents who seized several districts of Damascus. They are still trying to dislodge rebels from swathes of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city and its economic capital.
More than 160 people, including 105 civilians, were killed across Syria on Tuesday, an opposition watchdog reported.
The violence in Syria, where opposition sources say 18,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad erupted in March last year, has divided regional and world powers.
Their disputes have nullified diplomatic peace efforts and effectively paralysed the UN security council on Syria.