Violence narrows chance of cease-fire in Syria

DAMASCUS - A spate of blasts and clashes rattled Syria on Wednesday, drawing dim shadow over a possible cease-fire during the upcoming holiday of Muslim Eid al-Adha that will start on Friday.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden car at early time Wednesday at a military checkpoint in the northern province of Raqqa, killing eight people and injuring seven, local media said.

According to the report, the bomber slammed his car against the checkpoint located in al-Qantari area, on the road between the northern provinces of Raqqa and Hasaka.

Soon after, armed groups blasted a gas pipeline also in Hasaka, the pro-government Sham FM radio reported, adding that the blasted pipeline connects Hasaka province with the coastal city of Banyas.

In the afternoon, a car rigged with explosives went off in the Damascus suburb of Daf al-Shouk, killing four and injuring 11 others, the state TV said, adding that the explosion left material damages to nearby buildings.

Other media reports said the blast had been carried out by an Afghani suicide bomber, in sign of the increasing number of foreign jihadists operating in Syria.

The blast site is adjacent to Damascus' battered district of Tadamun, which has emerged as a hotspot in Syria's 19-months-old crisis.

Opposition activists posted an online amateur video purporting to show the blast site from a distance. They said the blast was caused by an explosive device that ripped through a checkpoint of Syrian forces in the Daf al-Shouk area, adding that the rebels "al-Ansari Battalion" claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

Also on Wednesday, Syria's state media said that armed groups massacred 25 civilians in the Damascus suburb of Douma, and that children and women were among the killed. It added that the exact area where the carnage took place is a stronghold of the extremists "Islam Brigade."

However, the activists' network Local Coordination Committees accused the government troops of being behind the carnage.

After the carnage news, Syria's ministries of information and foreign affairs denounced the massacre and blamed the countries that support the armed rebels of having a hand in the recent escalation of violence.

The Information Ministry said the carnage has come to serve political agendas ahead of the meeting of the UN Security Council on Syria, adding that such style has become typical for the armed groups.

The ministry reiterated accusation against some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and France, of funding and supporting the armed groups in Syria, saying that such role is an evidence of the international involvement in the unrest-torn country.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry said "the armed terrorist groups and their backers are still shedding the Syrian blood in a way that runs against all the humanitarian values and in a repetitive timing that always precedes the UN Security Council's sessions."

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