BEIRUT - Twenty-five people were killed and 175 people were wounded in two blasts targeting security bases in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Friday, state television quoted the Health Ministry as saying.
The
opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted residents as
saying three blasts occurred, including one near a security forces'
building in the city. They also reported hearing gunfire.
A
resident contacted by Reuters said an area around a military
intelligence complex in the New Aleppo district had been sealed off
after the explosions.
Aleppo, Syria's main commercial hub, had
been relatively quiet during the 11-month uprising against President
Bashar Assad but has seen increasing protests and violence in recent
weeks.
On Dec. 23, suicide car bombers struck Damascus in what
was then the bloodiest violence in the capital since the revolt against
Assad began.
At least 44 people were killed then and the
government blamed al Qaida for the attack, which took place one day
after the arrival of an Arab League observer mission.
On Jan. 6, a
suicide bomber killed 26 people and wounded 63 in Damascus. Syria's
Interior Minister Ibrahim al-Shaar vowed an "iron-fist response" to the
attack.
