At least 14 people were killed when twin explosions caused by suicide bomb attackers struck near a police station in Damascus Tuesday, state television said, updating its earlier toll. "The number of casualties after a twin suicide attack in Marjeh square has risen to 14 dead and 31 injured," said the broadcaster. "The two suicide explosions took place near a police station," it added. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the blasts, but put the toll higher at 15.

A blast rocked the central Damascus district of Marjeh on Tuesday causing casualties, Syrian state television said, with an AFP correspondent reporting automatic arms fire after the explosion. "Terrorist explosion in Marjeh district of Damascus and preliminary information on casualties," state television al-Ikhbaryiya reported. bur-sah/bpz

At least four people were killed and 20 others wounded on Sunday when mortar shells fired by rebels slammed a pro-government suburb of the capital Damascus, the state media and activists said.Three mortars landed at a station of Pullman buses in Jaramana suburb, some 10 km southeast of Damascus, official SANA news agency said.The first mortar struck inside the station, while two others hammered a bus outside, SANA said, adding that the attack left immense material damage to parked cars and buses.Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syri

Syrian state television has confirmed that a video showing the March 21 killing of prominent religious cleric Mohammed Saeed al-Bouti is real, days after describing the footage as a fake. In an unprecedented act, the broadcaster said it "apologised" for denying the authenticity of a video distributed online this week, showing the moment of an explosion in a Damascus mosque that killed Syria's best-known Sunni cleric.