Death toll of suicide bombing in eastern Syria climbs to 9

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Syria's state-run SANA news agency said on Saturday that the death toll of the suicide bombing that rattled a military housing complex earlier in the day has climbed to nine, adding that 100 others were wounded.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden truck at a parking lot of a military housing complex at Masaken Ghazi Ayyash area in Syria's eastern province of Dier al-Zour, killing nine people and injuring 100 others, SANA said.

The blast, occurring at Masaken Ghazi Ayyash area, also caused damages to nearby buildings, the report said.

The state-TV showed footage of the blast site, picturing dozens of smashed and smoldering cars scattered amid rubble and twisted debris. The facade of nearby buildings was totally ripped off.

Scraps of flesh and blood stains were seen on the ground as people were screaming "is that the freedom they want?"

A group of UN observers rushed to the scene to examine the site.

A day earlier, Syrian authorities disrupted two explosion attempts by booby-trapped cars in Dier al-Zour and a suburb of the capital Damascus, according to SANA.

Several explosive devices went off Friday, leaving property damages. The blasts are part of the new bombing trend that has been carrying out in Syria over the past months.

The last major explosion occurred on May 10 when two suicide bombers riding cars rigged with 1,400 kg of explosives detonated themselves before an intelligence complex in Damascus, killing 55 people and injuring 372 others.

The style of the bombings bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida.

"A few days ago there was a huge, serious, massive terrorist attack. I believe that there must be al-Qaida behind it. This has created again very serious problems," UN chief Ban Ki-moon said, referring to the twin suicide bombings in the capital.

Many observers believed that al-Qaida is exploiting the chaos in Syria in order to achieve strategic gains by playing on the " sectarian nerve" in a country that is known of its remarkable melange of sects and beliefs.

Others cited the decline in terrorists' attacks in Iraq, saying the new arena for al-Qaida now is Syria.

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