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Car Bombs Kill Dozens Near Damascus, Authorities Say Car Bombs Kill Dozens Near Damascus, Authorities Say
(35 minutes later)
Syrian state media said on Wednesday that 34 people had died in twin car bombings in a suburb populated by minorities only six miles from the center of Damascus, the capital, as the civil war swirls from north to south claiming ever higher casualties. BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian state media said on Wednesday that 34 people had died in twin car bombings in a suburb populated by minorities only six miles from the center of Damascus, the capital, as the civil war swirls from north to south claiming ever higher casualties.
The SANA news agency said the explosions in Jaramana were the work of “terrorists,” the word used by the authorities to denote rebel forces seeking the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. There were also reports from witnesses in Turkey and anti-government activists in Syria that for the second successive day insurgents had shot down a government aircraft in the north of the country.
“We watched a Syrian plane being shot down as it was flying low to drop bombs,” said Ugur Cuneydioglu, who said he witnessed the incident from a Turkish border village in southern Hatay Province. It was not clear whether the aircraft was a plane or a helicopter. “It slowly went down in flames before it hit the ground. It was quite a scene,” Mr. Cuneydioglu said.
Video posted by insurgents on the Internet showed a man in aviator coveralls being carried away from what activists depicted as the scene, although the footage could not immediately be independently verified. It was not clear if the man was alive. The aircraft was said to have been brought down while it was attacking the town of Darat Azzah.
On Tuesday, Syrian rebels said they shot down a military helicopter with a surface-to-air missile outside Aleppo and they uploaded video that appeared to confirm that rebels have put their growing stock of heat-seeking missiles to effective use. In Damascus, the SANA news agency said the explosions in Jaramana outside the city were the work of “terrorists,” the word used by the authorities to denote rebel forces seeking the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.
Photographs on the SANA Web site showed wreckage and flames in what looked like a narrow alleyway with cars covered in chunks of debris from damaged buildings. The agency said the bombings were in the main square of Jaramana, which news reports said is largely populated by members of the Christian and Druse minorities. The blast caused “huge material damage to the residential buildings and shops,” SANA said.Photographs on the SANA Web site showed wreckage and flames in what looked like a narrow alleyway with cars covered in chunks of debris from damaged buildings. The agency said the bombings were in the main square of Jaramana, which news reports said is largely populated by members of the Christian and Druse minorities. The blast caused “huge material damage to the residential buildings and shops,” SANA said.
Photographs on the Web site showed shattered windows at the Abou Samra coffee house and gurneys laden with injured clogging what seemed to be a hospital corridor. The photographs on the Web site showed shattered windows at the Abou Samra coffee house and gurneys laden with injured clogging what seemed to be a hospital corridor.
SANA said two bombings in other neighborhoods caused minor damage. SANA said two bombings in other neighborhoods caused minor damage. Activists reported that there were four explosions and said they were all “huge.”The blasts seemed initially at least to shift the focus of the fighting from the north, where insurgents have claimed string of tactical breakthroughs in recent days, to areas ringing Damascus.
The blasts seemed initially at least to shift the focus of the fighting from the north, where insurgents have claimed string of tactical breakthroughs in recent days, to areas ringing Damascus.
On Tuesday, Syrian rebels said they shot down a military helicopter with a surface-to-air missile outside Aleppo, and they uploaded video that appeared to confirm that rebels have put their growing stock of heat-seeking missiles to effective use.
In the north in recent days, the insurgents also claimed to have seized air bases and a hydroelectric dam, apparently seeking both to expand their communications lines and to counter the government’s supremacy in the air.In the north in recent days, the insurgents also claimed to have seized air bases and a hydroelectric dam, apparently seeking both to expand their communications lines and to counter the government’s supremacy in the air.
The death toll from Wednesday’s bombings was not immediately confirmed. An activist group, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 29 people had died. However, with the number estimated at dozens, the tally seemed likely to be higher.The death toll from Wednesday’s bombings was not immediately confirmed. An activist group, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 29 people had died. However, with the number estimated at dozens, the tally seemed likely to be higher.
The explosions reflected the dramatic shift since Syria’s uprising began in March 2011 as a peaceful protest centered on the southern town of Daraa. It has since spread across the land in a full-blown civil war pitting government forces against a rebel army of Army defectors, disaffected civilians and what the authorities say are foreign jihadists.The explosions reflected the dramatic shift since Syria’s uprising began in March 2011 as a peaceful protest centered on the southern town of Daraa. It has since spread across the land in a full-blown civil war pitting government forces against a rebel army of Army defectors, disaffected civilians and what the authorities say are foreign jihadists.

Hala Droubi reported from Beirut, Lebanon, and Alan Cowell from Paris. Sebnem Arsu contributed reporting from Istanbul.