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| Bomb in Central Damascus Kills 13 | Bomb in Central Damascus Kills 13 |
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| BEIRUT, Lebanon — A powerful explosion ripped through Marjeh Square in the center of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Tuesday, killing 13 people and wounding over 70, according to state television, which showed video of what it said was the aftermath. | BEIRUT, Lebanon — A powerful explosion ripped through Marjeh Square in the center of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Tuesday, killing 13 people and wounding over 70, according to state television, which showed video of what it said was the aftermath. |
| The bombing came a day after an explosion targeted the convoy of the Syrian prime minister, Wael Nader al-Halqi, in the affluent Mezze district of Damascus. State news media said that Mr. Halqi survived the attack, which killed five people, including a bodyguard. | |
| The latest blast came when a booby-trapped car exploded near the back door of a building that used to house the Ministry of Interior, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an organization, based in Britain, with a network of local antigovernment activists in Syria. The group said that the death toll could rise, as some of the wounded were in critical condition, and at least five members of the security forces were killed. State television said the dead were all civilians. | |
| In footage on state television, fire trucks and ambulances could be heard in the background as a camera panned over debris, bloodstains on the ground and dented cars with broken windows. A thick spiraling cloud of back smoke engulfed the area as passers-by spoke on their cellphones and looked around in disbelief. | |
| It was not clear if any individual was targeted, and no group immediately claimed responsibility. The government blamed its armed opponents, while the opposition Local Coordinating Committees blamed the government, as has often happened in a war in which information is a weapon and each side seeks to demonize the other. | It was not clear if any individual was targeted, and no group immediately claimed responsibility. The government blamed its armed opponents, while the opposition Local Coordinating Committees blamed the government, as has often happened in a war in which information is a weapon and each side seeks to demonize the other. |
| An array of disparate groups are seeking to topple the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, including the blacklisted al-Nusra Front which recently pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda and has claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the past. Other rebel groups say they reject such tactics. | An array of disparate groups are seeking to topple the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, including the blacklisted al-Nusra Front which recently pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda and has claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the past. Other rebel groups say they reject such tactics. |
| The government has been on a campaign recently to convince the United States and its allies to slacken its support for the uprising, arguing that it empowers violent extremist Islamist groups. The opposition argues that groups like Nusra gained prominence only after rebel fighters seeking to topple Assad family rule were unable to win significant military support from the West, while extremists had willing donors. | The government has been on a campaign recently to convince the United States and its allies to slacken its support for the uprising, arguing that it empowers violent extremist Islamist groups. The opposition argues that groups like Nusra gained prominence only after rebel fighters seeking to topple Assad family rule were unable to win significant military support from the West, while extremists had willing donors. |
| Marjeh Square is in downtown Damascus near the historic Hijaz train station and just outside the Old City. It is adjacent to the Hamidiyeh Souk at the western end of the Old City, once a major tourist attraction with its alleys of stalls selling spices and carpets. Syrians still visit and take photographs outside the Umayyad Mosque, where flocks of pigeons swirl in a courtyard, but foreign tourists are nonexistent and business has decreased for the shopkeepers in the area. | |
| Marjeh Square has been imparted with cultural and political significance in Damascus life since Ottoman rule. Marjeh means “pasture” in Arabic, but the place is also known as Martyrs’ Square because several Syrian nationalist figures were executed there when an Arab revolt gained momentum and threatened Ottoman rule at the beginning of the 20th century. | Marjeh Square has been imparted with cultural and political significance in Damascus life since Ottoman rule. Marjeh means “pasture” in Arabic, but the place is also known as Martyrs’ Square because several Syrian nationalist figures were executed there when an Arab revolt gained momentum and threatened Ottoman rule at the beginning of the 20th century. |
| As the violent civil war in Syria enters its third year and Mr. Assad’s opponents try to inch closer to Damascus, the city has witnessed increasingly frequent explosions, including powerful bombings that have targeted government officials, others whose targets appear random and occasional rebel mortars that sail into the center. Far more devastating has been the relentless bombardment of rebel-held suburbs — and other areas around the country — by security forces using artillery and airstrikes. More than 70,000 people have died in the conflict. | |
| Though the government tightly controls security in the center of the capital, the bombings have fueled a growing sense of insecurity that has prompted anger among Damascus residents who blame rebels for attacking civilians and the state for its inability to stop the violence. | |
| In Marjeh Square on Tuesday, a man interviewed on state TV screamed, “We were just showing up to work, haven’t you had enough of Syrians’ blood, Qaradawi?” | |
| He was referring to a Sunni Muslim imam based in Qatar, one of the countries that backs the opposition. Early in the Syrian uprising, which began as a peaceful protest movement but turned to armed opposition after security forces fired on demonstrators, a prominent adviser to Mr. Assad blamed the imam for inciting Syrian Sunnis against the government. | He was referring to a Sunni Muslim imam based in Qatar, one of the countries that backs the opposition. Early in the Syrian uprising, which began as a peaceful protest movement but turned to armed opposition after security forces fired on demonstrators, a prominent adviser to Mr. Assad blamed the imam for inciting Syrian Sunnis against the government. |
| The latest incident occurred against a backdrop of an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis affecting Syrian refugees. | The latest incident occurred against a backdrop of an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis affecting Syrian refugees. |
| Oxfam, a British charity, warned in a report on Tuesday that the 6.8 million internally displaced Syrians need immediate assistance and that the funds currently available are not sufficient to deal with a crisis of such magnitude. | Oxfam, a British charity, warned in a report on Tuesday that the 6.8 million internally displaced Syrians need immediate assistance and that the funds currently available are not sufficient to deal with a crisis of such magnitude. |
| The United Nations has only received half of the money that was pledged to them, according to Oxfam. | The United Nations has only received half of the money that was pledged to them, according to Oxfam. |