May 18, 2013
BEIRUT (AP) -- Two suicide car bombings are being reported in northern Syria.
Syria's state news agency says at least nine people were killed and nearly 100 injured when the cars blew up near a military compound and a hotel in Idlib. The city had been an opposition stronghold, but government troops took control in a military offensive earlier this year.
Syrian pro-government television aired footage of the aftermath, showing bodies, smashed cars, twisted debris and blood stains on the pavement. The blasts left two large craters in the ground and ripping the facade off one multistory building.
There's been no claim of responsibility for the attacks.
State media blame "armed terrorists," a term they use for rebels trying to topple the government. Activists claimed the regime was behind the bombings to discredit the opposition.
