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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Syria crisis: Damascus blast 'kills 16 soldiers' | Syria crisis: Damascus blast 'kills 16 soldiers' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| At least 16 Syrian soldiers have been killed in a suicide bombing and fighting that followed in a Damascus suburb, activists say. | At least 16 Syrian soldiers have been killed in a suicide bombing and fighting that followed in a Damascus suburb, activists say. |
| The blast triggered clashes at a checkpoint near the mainly-Christian area of Jaramana, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. | The blast triggered clashes at a checkpoint near the mainly-Christian area of Jaramana, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. |
| State media blamed "terrorists" for the explosion but did not give details. | State media blamed "terrorists" for the explosion but did not give details. |
| Earlier, the US urged the Syrian government to allow aid to reach starving civilians in Damascus. | Earlier, the US urged the Syrian government to allow aid to reach starving civilians in Damascus. |
| Washington said the army's months-long siege left many people in rebel-held areas in desperate need of food, water and medicine. | Washington said the army's months-long siege left many people in rebel-held areas in desperate need of food, water and medicine. |
| The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists inside Syria, said the suicide car bombing by the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front triggered heavy fighting at a key checkpoint between Jaramana and the rebel-held town of Mleha. | |
| It said rebels fired rockets into Jaramana during the fighting and Syrian fighter jets retaliated by striking nearby opposition-held areas. | |
| The report could not be confirmed. | The report could not be confirmed. |
| Religious minorities | |
| The BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says the use of suicide bombers to open an offensive is a tactic that has been used increasingly by the rebels in recent months. | |
| Rebels control much of the countryside around Damascus but Jaramana - a Christian and Druze area mostly loyal to President Bashar al-Assad - is still held by the government. | |
| In August a car bomb in the suburb killed 18 people. | In August a car bomb in the suburb killed 18 people. |
| Syria's embattled President Assad has drawn support from Syria's ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians and members of his Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam. | Syria's embattled President Assad has drawn support from Syria's ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians and members of his Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam. |
| The rebel movement is dominated by Sunni Muslims, who are a majority in Syria. | The rebel movement is dominated by Sunni Muslims, who are a majority in Syria. |
| In a statement on Friday, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: "We call on the Syrian regime to immediately approve relief convoys." | |
| And she warned that "those who are responsible for atrocities in the Damascus suburbs and across Syria must be identified and held accountable". | |
| At least three of Damascus's suburbs - Yarmouk, Eastern Ghouta and Moudamiyah - have been besieged by government forces for several months. | |
| The situation has become so desperate that earlier this week Muslim clerics issued a religious ruling allowing people to eat cats, dogs and donkeys just to survive. | |
| Those animals are usually considered unfit for human consumption in Islam. | |
| More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict, now in its third year. It began with popular protests against President Assad before degenerating into civil war. |