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Syria opposition accuses regime of staging blasts

BEIRUT - The opposition Syrian National Council on Sunday accused the regime of staging the weekend’s deadly car-bomb attacks to terrorise its own citizens and for Syria to be viewed as under threat from Al-Qaeda.

“The Syrian regime wants to terrorise the large agglomerations, especially Damascus and Aleppo where large demonstrations have taken place these past few weeks,” SNC executive bureau member Samir Nashar told AFP.

On Sunday, a blast targeting security offices in the northern city of Aleppo killed three civilians and wounded more than 25 others, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

On Saturday, huge twin car bombings killed 27 people and wounded 140 others in the heart of Syria’s capital, mostly civilians, near police and air force headquarters, the interior ministry said.

State media, which have blamed all three attacks on “terrorists,” said the Aleppo bomb exploded near residential buildings and a post office, causing casualties and heavy damage to apartment buildings and private cars.

The capital and Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, are both seen as having high levels of support for President Bashar al-Assad. They have been relatively unscathed by a brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests.

Nashar stressed that the attack in Aleppo and one of the Damascus bombings hit districts which are home to many members of Syria’s Christian minority.

“The regime is perfectly capable of carrying out such blasts to tell residents that the country is sliding into chaos,” he said. “It also wants to send out the message abroad that Al-Qaeda has made its way into Syria.”