A Syrian activist group says a double bomb attack has killed a minimum of 20 people near security buildings within the northwestern town of Idlib, as a bombing campaign against Syrian government targets intensifies.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Monday's attack targeted intelligence buildings utilized by the Syrian army and air force. Syria's state news agency, SANA, said suicide bombers triggered the blasts and gave a lower death toll of at the least nine, with another 100 people wounded.
The attack follows a suicide car bombing on Friday that killed at the least nine people, mostly security officials, in Damascus.
Syrian state media blame the bombings on "armed terrorists," a term they use for rebels leading a 13-month uprising against the govt of President Bashar al-Assad. But activists accuse the govt of instigating the bombings to discredit the opposition.
Syrian state media say several U.N. observers toured the positioning of the Idlib bombings. A small team of unarmed U.N. soldiers began operating in Syria earlier this month to check out to watch a shaky truce agreement within the Syrian conflict. A Norwegian general arrived in Damascus on Sunday to take command of the U.N. mission.
Shortly after his arrival, Major General Robert Mood appealed for an end to violence and urged cooperation from government and rebel forces, saying U.N. monitors cannot solve all of Syria's problems alone.
In other violence Monday, SANA reported grenade attacks at the Syrian Central Bank and a police patrol in Damascus. It said four officers were wounded and the bank sustained light damage.
Elsewhere, Lebanese security officials said several skiers were fired on from the Syrian side of the mountainous border. One Lebanese skier was wounded. Syrian troops previously have fired around the border on suspicion of rebel activity .
The Syrian government and rebels accepted a U.N.-backed truce agreement that took effect on April 12. But, forces loyal to Mr. Assad have continued assaulting opposition hubs, while rebel fighters have repeatedly ambushed government security personnel. Both sides accuses the opposite of provoking attacks.
The cease-fire agreement is a part of a peace plan mediated by international envoy Kofi Annan.
The United Nations estimates that no less than 9,000 people had been killed since Mr. Assad began cracking down at the uprising in March 2011.
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Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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