Syria says thwarts 1,200 kg car bomb in Aleppo
Source: Reuters
By Dominic Evans
BEIRUT | Fri May 11, 2012 4:33pm EDT
(Reuters) - Syrian forces foiled an attempted suicide car bombing with 1,200 kg (2,640 pounds) of explosives in the northern city of Aleppo on Friday, state television said, a day after two bombs in the capital Damascus killed at least 55 people.
The would-be bomber was killed in the al Shaar district of Syria's largest city which, like Damascus, has seen increasing street protests against President Bashar al-Assad and rising levels of bloodshed after months of relative calm.
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Syria's Ikhbariya television showed U.N. monitors inspecting a white mini-van in Aleppo on Friday which an army officer told them had contained enough explosive to kill 500 people. The bloodied body of the van driver lay crumpled in the front seat, behind a windscreen riddled with bullet holes.
The officer told the U.N. observers the driver, who he said was not Syrian, was shot before he could detonate the bombs.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/11/us-syria-explosives-idUSBRE84A18C20120511