Suicide bomber hits Syrian intelligence compound in Palmyra

A blast targeting a military complex in central Syria on Wednesday killed an unknown number people, a government official and activists said, while heavy fighting erupted in parts of the capital Damascus.     

There were conflicting reports about the nature of the explosion in the city of Palmyra in the central province of Homs.     

The Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights said a car bomb blew up near a compound that houses a military intelligence branch and a state security agency. The group says several regime troops were killed in the bombing, and was followed by heavy clashes between rebels and government soldiers guarding the compound.      

A Syrian government official confirmed the attack but said it was the work of two suicide bombers. He also said there were casualties in the blast, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements.    

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although car bombs and suicide attacks targeting state institutions have been a hallmark of Islamic militants fighting alongside Syrian rebels aiming to topple President Bashar Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years.      

Homs has been an opposition stronghold since the Syrian uprising erupted nearly two years ago. The province and its capital of the same name were the scene of massive protests early in the revolt, which has since devolved into a civil war that has turned urban centers like Homs and the northern city of Aleppo into battlefields.     

In Damascus, activists said heavy fighting erupted in the western districts of the capital, and residents said the heavy thud of shelling in those neighborhoods was louder than in past weeks.      

The United Nations say more than 60,000 people have been killed since conflict started in March 2011. At least 700,000 Syrians have fled their homes, seeking shelter in neighboring countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, and more than one million people have been displaced within Syria during 22 months of fighting, according to aid agencies. 


POSITIONS:

Leaders of Islamic nations called for a negotiated end to Syria's civil war at a summit in Cairo thrusting Egypt's new Islamist president to center stage amid political and economic turbulence at home.      

With Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad making an ice-breaking visit to Egypt after 34 years of estrangement, the two-day meeting was focusing on how to stop the bloodshed in Syria, where Tehran is one of President Bashar al-Assad's last allies.  

In a keynote address, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi called on "the ruling regime" in Damascus to learn the lessons of history and not put its interests above those of the nation.

Ahmadinejad earlier told Egyptian journalists there could be no military solution and he was encouraged that the Syrian government and opposition were moving towards negotiations to end the conflict in which at least 60,000 people have died.   

"Fortunately in Syria at the moment matters between the two parties - the opposition and the government - are heading towards establishing the idea of dialogue and talking together," al-Ahram daily quoted him as saying.

AP/REUTERS