DAMASCUS, Syria -- Three suicide bombers detonated their
explosives-packed cars near an officers' club in Syria's northern city
of Aleppo on Wednesday, killing at least 31 people and causing massive
destruction that trapped scores under the rubble, Syrian state media and
activists said.
MORE: World powers push Syria's opposition to unite
The blasts went off at a main square in a
government-controlled district of the city, while a fourth explosion
detonated a few hundred yards away near the Chamber of Commerce, they
said.
Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub and largest city, has seen
intensified fighting between regime forces and rebels trying to oust
President Bashar Assad, especially after the fighters launched a new
offensive last week.
But it has not been the target of frequent
suicide attacks, and Wednesday's stunning wave of explosions caused
panic and fear among residents.
State-run news agency SANA said
the bombings targeted Saadallah al-Jabri square, describing them as the
work of "terrorists," and said at least 31 people were killed and dozens
of others were wounded. Authorities refer to rebels fighting to topple
Assad as terrorists and armed gangs.
A state-run channel,
Ikhbariya, showed footage of massive damage around the square, which
also houses a famous hotel. One building appeared leveled to the ground.
The facade of another was heavily damaged.
The TV showed footage of several bodies, including one being pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building.
"It
was like a series of earthquakes," said a shaken resident who declined
to be identified for fear of reprisals. "It was terrifying, terrifying."
He
said the officers' club and the hotel were almost completely destroyed.
His account could not be immediately verified, although the TV footage
showed at least one building reduced to rubble.
A Syrian
government official said the number of deaths would likely increase
because many of the wounded were in critical condition. Speaking to The
Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with government
regulations, he said soldiers killed two more would-be suicide bombers
at the scene, before they could detonate their explosives.
Aleppo-based
activist Mohammad Saeed said the explosions went off minutes apart at
one of the city's main squares. He said the blasts appear to have been
caused by car bombs and were followed by clashes and heavy gunfire.
"The
area is heavily fortified by security and the presence of shabiha," he
said, referring to pro-regime gunmen. "It makes you wonder how car bombs
could reach there," he added.
The Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on
the ground, reported dozens of casualties from the blasts, most of them
members of the regime forces.
A statement from the observatory
said the explosions followed a clash between guards at the officers'
club and gunmen. It said a fourth car bomb went off in the Bab Jnein
area near the Chamber of Commerce, causing an unspecified number of
casualties there.
During the course of the 18-month-uprising
against Assad, suicide and car bombings targeting security agencies and
soldiers have become common in Syria, particularly in the capital,
Damascus.
But Aleppo has been spared from such bombings and from
the mayhem that struck other Syrian cities, particularly in the first
year of the revolt.
Then, in February, two suicide car bombers hit security compounds in Aleppo's industrial center, killing 28 people.
The
uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and gradually morphed into
a bloody civil war. The conflict has killed more than 30,000 people,
activists say, and has devastated entire neighborhoods in Syria's main
cities, including Aleppo.
Associated Press