At least 55 killed in Damascus explosions, 372 injured

Two successive loud explosions rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus Two successive loud explosions rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus early on Thursday, sending plumes of smoke billowing into the sky, reported the Al Arabiya news network. State news agency SANA said

55 people have been killed and 372 wounded in the explosions.
Syrian state television added that the “terrorist” bombings \"on the freeway in the south of Damascus” occurred “as people were heading to work and children to school.”
It showed footage of the blasts with burnt bodies seen in wrecks of cars.
Robert Mood, the Norwegian major general heading the UN\'s monitoring mission in Syria, codemned the explosions: \"This is yet another example of the suffering brought upon the people of Syria from acts of violence. We have seen it here in Damascus and we have seen it in other cities and villages across the country... I call on everyone within and outside Syria to help stop this violence.\"
 Mood will be visiting the site of the blasts.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said the explosions occurred at a security base in Damascus.
Residents told the Reuters news agency that regime forces had cordoned off the Tadamun neighborhood of the city and they could hear ambulance sirens.
Haitham al-Maleh, of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), accused the regime in Damascus of masterminding the bombings, while London-based Syrian activist and journalist Bassam Jaara described the bombings as “the regime’s response to the U.N. condemnation of its acts.”
Samir Nashar, of the SNC’s executive branch, said, “The regime is behind this.”
Damascus has been targetted by a slew of bomb attacks in recent months as president Bashar al-Assad faces a revolt against his regime which his forces are attempting to crush.   The blasts came a day after a bomb attack on a UN observer convoy in the southern city of Daraa, which injured six Syrian troops escorting the vehicles.
Responding to the Daraa attack, UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned Syria’s government and opposition there was only a “brief window” to avoid civil war and indicated the future of the ceasefire monitoring mission was in doubt.
Highlighting an “alarming upsurge” of roadside bombs, alongside government attacks, Ban said both sides “must realise that we have a brief window to stop the violence, a brief opportunity to create an opening for political engagement between the government and those seeking change.”
The Observatory claims almost 12,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria since the revolt, inspired by Arab Spring uprisings, broke out in March last year.
 Over 1000 have died since the start of international envoy Kofi Annan\'s mission to end the violence, according to activist group the Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC). It claims to have documented the names of 1025 killed in the last month.
Annan condemned Thursday\'s attacks as \"counter-productive\" to both parties.
Damascus was hit by two blasts on May 6, with three soldiers wounded in one of the attacks.
A deadly suicide bombing at Zein al-Abidin mosque in the capital’s central Midan district on April 27 killed 11 people and wounded dozens, according to state media.
An Islamist group calling itself \"al-Nusra Front\" had earlier claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing on April 20 near the Syrian city of Hama that targeted a restaurant used by the security forces.
It also claimed responsibility for a series of previous explosions in both Damascus and Aleppo. 
The Syrian authorities regularly blame the blasts on “terrorist groups” they say are behind the violence that has swept the country for the past 14 months.
The opposition accuses regime forces of being behind the bombings in an attempt to discredit protesters demanding the ouster of Assad.