25 dead in Damascus blast

FE Team | Published: January 07, 2012 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

DAMASCUS, Jan 6, (agencies):At least 25 people have died in a suicide attack on a district in central Damascus, Syrian state media say.
State TV showed pictures of the blood-spattered streets of Midan district following the attack, which it blamed on "terrorists".
Two weeks ago 44 people died in similar blasts the authorities also blamed on terrorists. Opposition activists accused the government of staging them.
Arab League monitors are in Syria on a month-long observer mission.
They are trying to ensure compliance with a peace plan, but activists say a Syrian government crackdown has continued, with scores of people killed.
Demonstrators protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Midan district, Damascus, on Wednesday in this picture supplied by opposition activists Opposition activists supplied pictures of anti-government protests in Midan two days ago
A resident of Midan - the scene of reported anti-government protests in recent weeks - told Reuters news agency that ambulances were in the area.
Rockets hit Green Zone
as Iraq marks Army Day
Rockets were fired against Baghdad's Green Zone as Iraq's military marked its anniversary with a parade Friday, a day after the country suffered its worst attacks since August and weeks after US troops left.
Further violence against Shiite pilgrims, who were the targets of Thursday's bombings, killed two people, the latest in a spike in attacks against the majority community amid a political crisis that has stoked sectarian tensions.
Meanwhile, top officials in Nasiriyah, worst hit by Thursday's bloodshed, held a funeral for two Sunni soldiers who, officers said, tried to prevent a suicide attack that killed 47 people in the southern city.
In Baghdad, insurgents fired three rockets against the heavily-fortified Green Zone as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki presided over a huge military parade to mark the 91st anniversary of the founding of Iraq's armed forces.
The rockets hit the outer edge of the Green Zone, home to the US embassy and parliament, at 12:25 pm (0925 GMT) and did not cause any casualties, a senior intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.
The noise caused by the rockets exploding could be heard from inside the grounds where the parade was taking place, an AFP journalist said.
Iraq's fledgling 280,000-strong security force, completely reformed after the US-led invasion of 2003, meanwhile marked Friday's anniversary on stadium grounds under the gaze of Maliki, acting Defence Minister Saadun al-Dulaimi and Iraq's top military officer Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari.
Heavy security measures were put in place for the parade, with journalists covering the event having to pass through five checkpoints after gaining access to the Green Zone, and several roads leading to the area shut off entirely.