UN chief condemns Damascus suicide bomb attacks

PanARMENIAN.Net - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the deadly multiple bomb attacks in Damascus and called for an immediate end to all violence.

A statement issued late Saturday March 17 by Ban's spokesman said "the secretary-general firmly condemns the multiple bomb attacks today in Damascus which killed and injured scores of people."

"He extends his sympathy and condolences to the bereaved families of the victims and the people of Syria," the statement said, adding that "the secretary-general calls for all violence to cease immediately."

At least 27 people were killed and around 100 others injured when two suicide bombings rocked the Syrian capital on Saturday morning in swift succession, the Syrian Ministry of Health said in a televised statement.

The bombings were the latest in a string of suicide attacks that targeted military and security compounds in Syria's two largest cities of Damascus and Aleppo and claimed the lives of dozens of civilians and government personnel.

The suicide bombings bore the hallmark of al-Qaeda, according to the Syrian government, Xinhua reported.