27 dead, almost 100 wounded in Damascus blasts

DAMASCUS—At least 27 people were killed, mostly civilians, and almost 100 wounded in two huge bomb blasts in the Syrian capital on Saturday, the health minister announced on a state television channel.

“Twenty-seven people, mostly civilians, were killed and 97 others wounded in the two explosions,” Wael al-Halaqi said on Syria News.

The minister said the remains of three bodies were among the grisly toll of the early morning blasts in central Damascus but did not specify if they were included in the casualty toll.

The “terrorist” attacks, timed minutes apart, targeted criminal police headquarters in the Duwar al-Jamarek area and air force intelligence offices in Al-Qasaa district, state television said.