Car bomb blast at police building in Damascus, Turkey retaliates to Syrian shelling

A car bomb exploded near a police headquarters in the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, state media and opposition activists said.  

State television said one person was wounded in what it called a "terrorist car bombing". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said people had been killed and wounded but gave no details. Nearby buildings were badly damaged, it said.

Earlier, Turkish forces fired across the frontier into Syria after a shell launched from Syria landed in Turkey's border town of Akcakale, underlining Ankara's warning that it will respond with force to any violence spilling over into its territory.   

It was the fifth consecutive day of Turkish retaliation against incoming bombardment from northern Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad's forces have been battling rebels who control swathes of land close to the Turkish frontier.   

The continued exchanges are the most serious cross-border violence in Syria's revolt against Assad, which began in March last year with protests for reform but has evolved into a civil war with sectarian overtones which threatens to draw in regional powers.   

The latest Syrian shell landed near a plant belonging to the Turkish Grain Board, the Dogan news agency reported, several hundred metres from the centre of Akcakale where five civilians were killed on Wednesday in previous Syrian artillery fire.   

The Syrian Observatory for Human rights said shells fired in retaliation from Turkey on Sunday landed near the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, where rebels have been battling Assad's forces.   

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The cross-border fire at Akcakale followed a similar incident on Saturday when three mortar bombs fired from Syria landed near the Turkish village of Guvecci, prompting retaliatory fire from Turkey.   

The British-based Observatory, which monitors violence through a network of activists inside Syria, said that Syrian barrage was part of a fierce battle between Assad's forces and rebels for control of the border village of Khirbet al-Joz.   

It said rebels seized control of the area after a 12-hour battle on Saturday in which at least 40 Syrian soldiers and nine rebels were killed. The death toll could not be independently verified.   

On Sunday, a rebel flag flew over a Syrian military post in the area, visible from the Turkish side of the border.

Earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that clashes erupted Sunday morning in Aleppo’s neighborhoods, while some areas in the city are shelled.

The observatory sources said that violence continues in Syrian regions and that 154 we killed on Saturday. The sources added that cadavers were found in Damascus Reef after the regime forces conducted military operation in the area during the past few days.

For its part, SANA reported that the regime forces targeted 2 terrorist groups who tried to enter Syria through the Lebanese borders.


Positions:
 
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey does not want war, but warned Syria not to test its resolve.   

"You have to be ready at every moment to go to war if it is necessary. If you are not ready for this, you are not a state," Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul on Sunday.   

"What did our forefathers say? 'If you want peace prepare for war' ... If you suffer an outrage, you will do what is necessary. Look, we are retaliating in kind," he said. "If you strike, you will see the retaliation immediately."    Damascus has said its fire hit Turkey accidentally.

On another note, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu  stated on Sunday that Syrian Prime Minister Farouk al-Sharaa is a “reasonable man” and may serve as Syria’s next leader in a transitional government.

Meanwhile, the New York Times Magazine published that “KSA and Qatar ceased providing Syrian rebels with heavy armament while the US is not supporting the Syrian opposition as it should”. Saudi and Qatari officials told the magazine that they are hoping to convince Washington of arming the rebels.

Washington has been constantly claiming that terrorist cells are working in Syria and was fearing that they might use these weapons for their favor.


For the full LBCI report, watch the video above.

LBCI/REUTERS