Nine die in latest Syrian bombing

A SUICIDE vehicle bomb tore through the car park of a military compound in an eastern Syrian city yesterday, killing nine people, state media reported.

It was the latest in a series of bombings in recent months targeting security installations.

State television said the explosion in Deir al-Zour also wounded dozens, and showed footage of damaged buildings, smouldering cars and lorries turned upside down. Debris filled a street stained with blood.

The TV station said that United Nations’ observers based in the city visited the blast scene.

Its report said the vehicle had been rigged with 2,200lb of explosives, which caused heavy damage to buildings up to 100 yards away.

The explosion left a crater 17ft wide and 8ft deep.

The state-run news agency, Sana, said the blast hit the car park of a military residential compound.

However, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group, reported that the bomb went off close to branches of the military intelligence directorate and air force intelligence.

Security agencies in several Syrian cities have been targeted by a wave of explosions since late last year.

This has raised fears that al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants, possibly including fighters from neighbouring Iraq, have made inroads into Syria’s rebel movement.

The most recent bombing targeted an intelligence building in the capital Damascus on 10 May.

That explosion occurred during the morning rush hour, with the high death toll – around 55 – making it the deadliest such attack since the uprising against president Bashar al-Assad’s regime began in March last year.

Yesterday’s blast came a day after Sana reported that authorities had foiled an attempt to blow up a car rigged with explosives in Damascus and had detained those involved.