Explosions in Damascus

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Explosions in Damascus

Two attacks occurred on Saturday in the center of Damascus, killing members of the security forces and civilians, in what the state television has already deemed as a terrorist attack seeking the toppling of the president Bashar al-Assad. The state television said that cars that contained explosives targeted an intelligence centre and a police compound at 7.30 a.m. local time. The images it showed were of burning bodies in two separate vehicles, a minivan with blood on it, and severed human limbs collected in sacks.
An elderly man was quoted by Reuters to say he had heard a huge explosion and the doors of the house were blown out, although they were living at some distance from the place of the blasts. Several people are reported dead, and about 40 wounded. State television said there were “scores” of casualties, both civilians and security forces.
No one has claimed responsibility for these detonations that come a few days after the anniversary of one year since Syria was engulfed into a struggle between the citizens and the government, which resulted, according to the United Nations, in 8,000 people killed and 23,000 people displaced.
The attack comes after another one staged in Aleppo, the second largest city of Syria, in February 10. 28 people were reported killed on that occasion. It also occurs at a time when the Syrian government is trying to end this rebellion by retaking the strongholds of the protesters.
The city of Idlib was attacked and recaptured this week, causing many people to flee their country and find shelter in neighboring Turkey. The situation compelled four Gulf nations on Friday to close their embassies in Damascus in protest of the violent means to deal with this uprising.
Turkey also warned on Friday its citizens to evacuate and announced it would also suspend its consular services in the restive country, possibly its embassy too.
On the diplomatic front it seemed that little was accomplished lately to unlock the standoff over measures that are to be considered so that Syria be put under pressure and stop the killing of its own civilians.
On Friday, former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan, who is a special envoy to Syria and visited the Arab country last weekend, briefed the United Nations Security Council about the talks with president Assad.
He warned that the crisis could affect the neighboring nations and demanded that a consensus be reached on how to tackle the matter. A new resolution draft is being discussed at the UNSC, with the United States hoping to convince Russia to back it this time, after it had rejected two similar drafts on the grounds that they were condemning only the Syrian government, not the rebels too.
The Russians have made a case against imposing any sanctions on Syria, arguing that it would lead to a military intervention the same way it happened in Libya last year. Russia was expected to shift its position after the presidential elections in March, but it would seem that nothing significant has changed in the overall stance, though some nuances have been added by foreign minister Sergei Levrov, who said, during a meeting with his American counterpart, Hillary Clinton, that the violence must end, and that it was the duty of the government, which bore a huge responsibility for it, to end it.
The voices demanding Assad to step down have increased in numbers, listing more and more international leaders. British prime minister David Cameron called the regime in Syria “illegitimate and criminal,” French president said about Assad that he was acting like a “murderer,” and the Turkish prime minister warned his former ally that he would not get away with it the same way his father did.
On Friday Turkey reiterated the idea of building a buffer zone inside Syrian territory, in order to protect the refugees. Turkey thus brought up the problem of foreign intervention in Syria, though it stated that it would not impose the buffers unless it had the international legal frame.
Syria has opposed any international intervention and has threatened to respond in kind if it happened. Last week, American Republican senator John McCain demanded that military strikes be executed by the U.S. air forces against Syria’s security troops in order to deter them from attacking the civilians.
The demand was dismissed by president Obama, who said that the situation in Syria was tense enough and any intervention would worsen things. The military advisers in the Middle East told the president that the strikes or a no-fly zone would even be difficult to implement, considering that Syria has acquired some high tech defense equipment from Russia, which would make any intervention from outside very difficult.
Reports earlier this week were saying that the Syrian military was mining the borders, something it had been said to have done in the past also.

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