Damascus: A bomb went off outside a mosque in Damascus on Friday, killing at least five policemen and wounding others, the latest violence in the capital, once the impregnable stronghold of President Bashar Al Assad’s regime.
The bomb exploded in the northern neighbourhood of Rukne Al Deen worshippers were leaving the Rukniyah mosque after Friday prayers.
Syrian TV said five policemen were killed, and an official at the scene told The Associated Press that six died. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the bomb went off across the street from the mosque and damaged a clinic as well as six cars. Officials at the bomb was placed on a motorcycle.
The brick wall over the entrance of the clinic collapsed, and blood could be seen on the wall and in the street.
In recent months, the Syrian capital has been hit by a string of bombings.
On Sunday, two bombs exploded in Damascus near the offices of the Syrian military’s joint chiefs of staff, slightly wounding four army officers and damaging buildings and cars.
Syria’s uprising against President Bashar Al Assad began in March last year, when protests calling for political change met a violent government crackdown. Many in the opposition have since taken up arms as the conflict has transformed into a civil war that activists say has killed more than 23,000 people. The government says more than 4,000 security officers are among the dead.
Earlier Friday, activists reported clashes between troops and rebels in s southern Damascus neighbourhood.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Local Coordination Committees had no immediate word on casualties from Friday’s clashes in Kazaz, which is a tightly controlled area, home to offices of several Syrian security agencies.
