WORLD_ Syrian regime staged deadly attacks in Damascus, rebel captain says

Syrian regime staged deadly attacks in Damascus, rebel captain says

By the CNN Wire Staff
March 18, 2012 -- Updated 0806 GMT (1606 HKT)


Green tape cordons off the scene following twin bomb attacks on security buildings in the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday

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(CNN) -- A Syrian rebel leader vehemently refuted the government's claim that so-called "terrorists" -- not the regime itself -- launched a series of explosions in Damascus that killed dozens.

"This is the regime's game. This is how they play their dirty tricks. They carry out these types of explosions from time to time to get more international support and compassion," Capt. Ammar al-Wawi of the rebel Syrian Free Army said Sunday. "They are desperately trying to prove to the world that they are fighting against armed gangs, but the reality is they are the ones who are doing all the killings."

Two explosions rocked parts of Damascus on Saturday, including Syrian government facilities, state-run media reported.

The Syrian Arab News Agency said 27 people were killed after two "booby-trapped" cars exploded in crowded areas in the capital. The blasts also injured 140 people and caused serious damage to surrounding buildings, SANA said.

One explosion occurred near the customs criminal investigations department, witnesses said, and another struck near the air force intelligence headquarters in a different part of the city.

The blast near the air force intelligence headquarters was close to where twin bombings struck the offices of two security branches in December. After those attacks, the government blamed "terrorists" inside and outside of Syria, but opposition activists said the regime staged the attacks to bolster its claim that the government is fighting terrorists.

In addition to Saturday's attacks in the capital, "two terrorists were killed on Saturday when a booby-trapped car they were driving exploded" in Yarmouk Camp, in the Damascus countryside, SANA said.

Al-Wawi said the Free Syrian Army "had nothing to do with these explosions, which caused heavy casualties among civilians, because that's not our mission. We are fighting against the regime brutality, not against our people. We are here to protect them from the Assad regime gangs."

More than a year after the start of the regime's crackdown on dissidents, reports of deaths mount every day.

Elsewhere across Syria, 22 people were killed on Saturday, including a child, two military defectors and two people under torture, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition activist network.

Opposition activists also described the aftermath of an attack in the Rifai district of Homs province last week, in which most of the 32 children and two women found were injured, the activists said.

"The children were tortured -- beaten, abused, fingers cut off, and shot by thugs," said a man who uses the pseudonym Waleed Faris.

Another activist, identified only as Abu Faris, was part of a rescue operation in Rifai. He described seeing abandoned neighborhoods, "tens of bodies" and "horrific corpses, shot, mutilated -- everywhere."

On Friday, Kofi Annan, the joint U.N-Arab League envoy to Syria, said he was trying to find a peaceful solution to the yearlong violence in Syria and "get unimpeded access" for humanitarian relief.

The former U.N. secretary-general said the situation in Syria is "much more complex" than that in Libya or other nations.

"It's a conflict in a region of the world that has seen many, many traumatic events. I think we need to handle the situation in Syria very, very carefully," he said. "Any miscalculation that leads to major escalation will have impact in the region."

Asked about the prospects of a coalition government, Annan said such a development would have to emerge from talks among Syrians.

Annan met last weekend with the Syrian president in Damascus and the Syrian opposition in Turkey in an effort to end the violence that has swept the nation.

Most reports from inside Syria indicate the regime is slaughtering civilians to wipe out dissidents seeking al-Assad's ouster. The al-Assad family has ruled Syria for more than four decades.

But al-Assad's regime has insisted that "armed terrorist groups" are behind the violence and says it has popular support for its actions.

CNN cannot independently confirm reports of casualties or attacks in Syria because the government has severely restricted the access of international journalists.

But more than 8,000 people have died in the conflict, according to the United Nations. Opposition activists say the overall toll is more than 9,000, most of them civilians.

CNN's Saad Abedine, Caroline Faraj and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report.


STORY HIGHLIGHTS
_ "This is how they play their dirty tricks," a rebel army captain says of the Syrian regime
_ State-run media: At least 27 were killed in explosions in Damascus on Saturday
_ Outside the capital, two "terrorists" were killed in another car explosion, SANA says
_ Opposition activists describe a horrific aftermath from an attack on Homs



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