40 dead as bombs tear through heart of Syria's Aleppo

Three car bombs tore into the heart of Aleppo today, killing at least 40 people and wounding 90, mostly soldiers, a watchdog said, as television broadcast scenes of devastation in Syria's commercial capital. In parts of the capital, meanwhile,
troops were deployed in large numbers and many more roadblocks were set up than usual, AFP correspondents said, even as Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi readied a fresh bid to end the bloodshed. Two car bombs exploded in quick succession around Aleppo's Saadallah al-Jabiri Square near a military officers' club and a hotel. A third bomb went off soon afterwards at the nearby Bab Jnein district at an entrance to the Old City, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a military source said. "A medical source said that at least 40 people were killed and 90 injured," said the Britain-based Observatory. "Most of them were regime troops." Official television channel Al-Ikhbariya said 31 people were killed and dozens wounded in "three terrorist explosions" in the city. The government blames the violence that has rocked Syria since March last year on "terrorists" it says are armed and sponsored by foreign powers. Near the officers' club, part of the facade of a hotel was destroyed by the force of the blasts, an AFP correspondent at the scene said, adding that a two-storey cafe collapsed completely. "We heard two enormous explosions, as though the gates of hell were opening," Hassan, a 30-year-old man who works in a nearby hotel, told AFP. "I saw thick smoke, and I helped a woman on the pavement whose arms and legs were completely dislocated," said Hassan, who gave only one name. -->