New attack rocks central Damascus as shelling over Aleppo continues

Syrian state television said four people were killed in an explosion in Damascus on Sunday in an attack it described as "terrorism".    

Activists also said rebels captured an air defense facility in the east of the country near the border with Iraq, where opposition forces have claimed advances over the past days.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes in Aleppo were concentrated in several tense neighborhoods  Hanano, Bustan al-Qasr, Sukkari and Maysar. It reported injuries and damage to buildings.       

Meanwhile, Syria's state news agency reported that a car bomb near a Palestinian refugee camp in a suburb of the nation's capital has killed at least 15 people.           

SANA says the explosion in the Damascus suburb of al-Sbeineh late Saturday also wounded several people and caused heavy damage to buildings in the area.              

It blamed the blast on an "armed terrorist group," the term it uses to describe the rebel Free Syrian Army seeking to topple Syria.            

International positions

Syria's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jihad Makdissi said that Damascus will help the new UN envoy Akhdar Ibrahimi “to make his mission succeed for the sake of the country”.

Meanwhile, a top international official declared that the Algerian diplomat will visit Damascus next Saturday to meet with President Bashar Assad.              

In this context, the Arab League’s former Secretary General Amro Moussa warned against moving the armed clashes from Syria into Jordan, noting that the Lebanese became “experts in dealing with such incidents”.        

For his part, Jordan's King Abdullah II reiterated his country’s position, calling for a political solution for Syria’s crisis which puts an end for violence and bloodshed, according to a statement issued by the Jordanian Royal Court

AP/REUTERS/LBCI

For the full report, please watch the video above