Residents wake up to two explosions in Damascus

Beirut: Residents in the Syrian capital awoke to two loud explosions yesterday amid reports from activists that the Damascus headquarters of the ruling Baath party had been hit by several rocket-propelled grenades.

There was no immediate confirmation of the report but the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a group of military defectors, claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement posted on the group's Facebook page, the FSA said the assault caused casualties and damage to the building. But eyewitnesses said the party headquarters appeared intact and reported no significant security deployment around it.

If true, the Damascus attack on the Baath Party's main building would signal a significant shift in the eight-month revolution against President Bashar Al Assad, bringing the violence that has engulfed much of the rest of the country to the heart of the Syrian capital, which has so far been relatively untouched.

In Cairo, the Arab League said it has rejected amendments proposed by Syria to a peace plan to end the crisis, saying the changes put forward by Damascus alter the plan's "essence".

The 22-member organisation did not give details of Syria's proposed amendments. But it said in a statement yesterday that Damascus' proposals were unacceptable because they introduce "drastic changes" to the mandate of an observers' mission the league wants to dispatch to Syria to ensure the implementation of the peace plan.

Bolder

The Arab League has already suspended Syria's membership over its failure to abide by the plan, which calls for the withdrawal of the government's tanks from the streets, the release of political prisoners and a halt to attacks on civilians.

An Arab League official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media, said the Syrian government was required to implement the peace plan in its entirety.

Al Assad, meanwhile, vowed to continue with a security crackdown to crush "militants" who he says are massacring Syrians on a daily basis.

Yesterday activist groups said at least three people were killed in continuing operations by security forces, including two in the flashpoint central city of Homs and one in northern Syria.

Syria's uprising against Al Assad, although largely peaceful, has grown more violent and militarised in recent weeks, as frustrated protesters see the limits of peaceful action. Army dissidents who sided with the protests have also grown bolder, fighting back against regime forces and even attacking military bases, raising fears of a civil war in Syria.

The attack by an FSA group of dissident soldiers was its boldest operation yet, striking a military intelligence building in a Damascus suburb.

If yesterday's attack on the Baath Party headquarters is confirmed, it would mark the first assault on a government building in what has so far been a relatively quiet central Damascus.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network and several residents reported several explosions in the district of Mazra'a in the heart of the Syrian capital.

The LCC said in a statement the building had been hit at daybreak yesterday by several rocket-propelled grenades and two fire brigades headed toward the area amid a heavy security presence. The group said it had no further details.

‘Thuds'

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said unknown gunmen on motorcycles threw first a sound bomb and then fired RPGs at the Baath party headquarters, hitting the external wall of the building. Two other grenades missed the target, it said.

Residents said they heard two loud explosions but could not confirm whether the building had been hit.

"I woke up to the sound of two loud thuds," said a resident of the area who asked that he remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. "We have no idea what they were."