27 people were killed and almost 100 wounded in two huge bomb blasts in the Syrian capital on Saturday, March 17, the government said, as international peace envoy Kofi Annan geared up for a monitoring mission to end the year-long bloodshed, Reuters reported.

"Twenty-seven people, mostly civilians, were killed and 97 others wounded in the two explosions," health minister Wael al-Halaqi said on state TV channel Syria News.

State television had earlier said several civilians and police were killed in the early morning attacks minutes apart targeting criminal police headquarters in the Duwar al-Jamarek area and air force intelligence offices in Al-Qasaa district.

It blamed "terrorists" for the blasts, as angry residents vented their fury at Arab supporters of anti-regime activists in Syria.

"According to our initial information, they were car bombs," the channel said.