AMMAN - At least 30 civilians were killed on Wednesday when
Syrian warplanes bombed a petrol station in a rebellious suburb on the eastern
edge of Damascus, two opposition campaigners on the scene said.
"I
counted at least 30 bodies. They were either burnt or dismembered," said Abu
Saeed, an activist who arrived at the area in the Muleiha suburb of Damascus an
hour after the raid occurred at 1:00 p.m.
Another activist, Abu
Fouad, said warplanes had bombarded the area as a consignment of fuel arrived
and crowds packed the station.
Video footage taken by activists, which
could not be independently verified, showed a body of a man a helmet on a
motorcycle amid flames that had engulfed the site, apparently hit while in a
line of vehicles waiting for petrol. A man was also shown carrying a dismembered
body.
Muleiha is one of a series of Sunni Muslim suburbs ringing the
capital that have been at the forefront of the 21 month revolt against the rule
of President Bashar Assad, who belongs to the Shi'ite-derived Alawite
minority sect.
Government forces control the center of Damascus and have
been pounding the suburbs from the air.
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