{"id":20443,"date":"2011-12-23T17:05:59","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T17:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/"},"modified":"2011-12-23T17:05:59","modified_gmt":"2011-12-23T17:05:59","slug":"syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria says twin suicide bombings in Damascus kill 40"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The BBC’s Jim Muir: “State TV… are showing scenes of great devastation”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

At least 40 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in two suicide car bombings in Syria\u2019s capital, Damascus, officials say.<\/p>\n

State TV said suspected al-Qaeda militants had targeted a General Security Directorate base and another security agency in the Kafr Sousa area.<\/p>\n

But opposition activists said the government had staged the attacks to influence an Arab League observer team.<\/p>\n

The observers are part of a plan to end the deadly crackdown on dissent.<\/p>\n

The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed and thousands more detained since anti-government protests erupted in March.<\/p>\n

The monitors are tasked with overseeing the government\u2019s compliance with an agreement that should see an end to violence by both sides, troops withdrawn from the streets and all detained protesters released.<\/p>\n

But human rights and opposition activists said the killings continued on Friday, with security forces shooting dead at least 12 civilians.<\/p>\n

The US state department said on Friday the bombings must not deter the Arab League observers from doing their work.<\/p>\n

\u2018Al-Qaeda infiltration\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The two explosions happened within minutes of each other on Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Not long afterwards, State TV said two attacks had been \u201ccarried about by suicide bombers driving vehicles packed with explosives against bases of state security [General Security Directorate] and another branch of the security services\u201d in the upmarket Kfar Sousa district, south-west of the city centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreliminary investigations showed al-Qaeda was responsible,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

Video footage was broadcast of heavily damaged buildings, with rescue workers combing through burnt buildings and blood-stained debris, and ambulances taking the injured away.<\/p>\n

The state-owned news channel, al-Ikhbariya al-Suriya, said the first car bomb exploded outside the offices of an unspecified security agency.<\/p>\n

When guards at a nearby compound housing the General Security Directorate went to inspect the aftermath of the first blast, the driver of another vehicle rammed the main gates and detonated the bomb it was carrying, the channel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe explosions shook the house, it was frightful,\u201d Nidal Hamidi, a Syrian journalist who lives in Kfar Sousa, told the Associated Press news agency.<\/p>\n

Gunfire was heard immediately following the explosion and windows up to 200m (670ft) away were shattered, Mr Hamidi said.<\/p>\n

Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told reporters at the scene of one of the blasts that in addition to the dead, more than 100 people had been wounded.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The BBC’s Jim Muir: “State TV… are showing scenes of great devastation” At least 40 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in two suicide car bombings in Syria\u2019s capital, Damascus, officials say. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nSyria says twin suicide bombings in Damascus kill 40 - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Syria says twin suicide bombings in Damascus kill 40 - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"The BBC's Jim Muir: "State TV... are showing scenes of great devastation" At least 40 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in two suicide car bombings in Syria\u2019s capital, Damascus, officials say.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/93dbburnt_car1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/23\\\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/23\\\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Syria says twin suicide bombings in Damascus kill 40\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-23T17:05:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/23\\\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":409,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/23\\\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/93dbburnt_car1.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/23\\\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/23\\\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/23\\\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\\\/\",\"name\":\"Syria says twin suicide bombings in Damascus kill 40 - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/23\\\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/23\\\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/93dbburnt_car1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-23T17:05:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/23\\\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/23\\\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/93dbburnt_car1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/12\\\/93dbburnt_car1.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Syria says twin suicide bombings in Damascus kill 40 - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Syria says twin suicide bombings in Damascus kill 40 - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"The BBC's Jim Muir: \"State TV... are showing scenes of great devastation\" At least 40 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in two suicide car bombings in Syria\u2019s capital, Damascus, officials say.","twitter_image":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/93dbburnt_car1.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Syria says twin suicide bombings in Damascus kill 40","datePublished":"2011-12-23T17:05:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/"},"wordCount":409,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/93dbburnt_car1.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/","name":"Syria says twin suicide bombings in Damascus kill 40 - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/93dbburnt_car1.jpg","datePublished":"2011-12-23T17:05:59+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/syria-says-twin-suicide-bombings-in-damascus-kill-40\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/93dbburnt_car1.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/93dbburnt_car1.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}