Damascus bombers attack Syria military HQ

The BBC's Jim Muir says President Assad would have been able to hear the blasts from his nearby palace

Rebels have targeted Syria's army headquarters with two large bomb blasts in the centre of Damascus.

Military officials said one of the bombs had caused damage to the main building of the General Staff.
The anti-regime Free Syrian Army said they had carried out the attack and claimed dozens had been killed. The army said no-one had died.
A BBC reporter in the city said gunfire could still be heard, amid reports that a fierce gun battle had broken out.
Syrian state TV quoted a military source saying no senior personnel were harmed by the explosions, but some of the building's guards were wounded.
It said "terrorist attackers" had opened fire inside the perimeter of the compound and in nearby streets, and security forces had confronted them.
The blasts happened just before 07:00 local time (04:00 GMT) in an area dominated by government buildings.
Diplomats living close to the area said the blasts were the biggest they had heard for months.
Buildings more than 1km (half a mile) away shook violently under the force of the explosions.
Shattered windows The BBC's Rafid Jabboori in Damascus says the apparent target and timing are very significant.

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The staff command compound represents the heart of the Syrian army, he says.

And the attack comes days after the Free Syrian Army announced it had moved its command from Turkey to Syria in an apparent attempt to bolster its fight against regime forces.
State television described the blasts, close to one of the city's busiest areas at Umayyad Square, as a terrorist attack.
Roads leading to the area were blocked off as the authorities dealt with the aftermath.
Damascus resident Jean-Pierre Duthion told the BBC that his entire building shook and windows were shattered.
"We all ran into the corridor, in the place without windows or anything, and we were just waiting until it stopped," he said.
In other developments

• Anti-regime group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says pro-government militiamen murdered 16 civilians in their Damascus homes in the early hours of Wednesday
• Iranian news channel Press TV says one of its reporters, named as Maya Naser, was shot dead by snipers in Damascus