Moscow says al-Qaeda behind Damascus bombings

PanARMENIAN.Net - Moscow believes that terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, carried out recent suicide bombings in Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Monday, May 14, RIA Novosti reported.

At least 55 people were killed and over 370 were injured in two explosions that rocked a highway near the capital, Damascus, on May 10.

“Terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, are behind the recent acts of terror in Syria, including al-Qaeda,” Gatilov said. “There are confirmed reports indicating that armed rebel groups enlist mercenaries from Libya and other Arab countries.”

Despite a month-old ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan and the deployment of over 180 UN observers in flashpoint areas, clashes between the opposition forces and troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad continue.

More than 9,000 people, the majority of them civilians, have died since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, according to UN reports.