<p>A suicide bombing hit Damascus today, killing 25 and wounding dozens of mostly civilians, state media said, blaming "terrorists" for the second such attack on the Syrian capital in two weeks.<br /><br /></p>.<p>State television said the "powerful explosion" hit the historic Midan quarter in the heart of the capital.<br /><br />The Muslim Brotherhood again implicated President Bashar al-Assad's regime in the attack, echoing a charge levelled after the twin suicide blasts last month.<br /><br />"We hold the regime, its agents and its gangs, fully responsible for this crime," the Brotherhood said in a statement received by AFP in Nicosia.<br /><br />The attack, which took place in a heavily populated neighbourhood near a school, killed 25 people and wounded 45 others, state television said, adding that the casualties were mostly civilians but also some security personnel.<br /><br />It showed gruesome footage of rescuers gathering body parts and placing them in plastic bags, in an area where damaged cars and buses were splattered with blood.<br />Angry residents at the scene shouted and denounced the bombing as the work of "terrorists."<br /><br />The powerful December 23 bombings sparked a swirl of claims and counter-claims over who was responsible, with the authorities saying they were probably the work of Al-Qaeda and the opposition accusing the regime.<br /><br />Such counter-accusations resumed today, with state media labelling the blast a "terrorist bombing" as the Muslim Brotherhood called for an international and Arab probe, saying the attack benefitted the regime.<br /><br />"The killings in Syria will continue and the Syrian regime will keep hiding behind Al-Qaeda and the terrorists... unless someone confronts the regime and takes it to account for its crimes," said the Brotherhood.<br /><br />The attack came as activists called for an Arab League observer mission to admit its failure to stem nearly 10 months of bloodshed and hand over to the United Nations.</p>
<p>A suicide bombing hit Damascus today, killing 25 and wounding dozens of mostly civilians, state media said, blaming "terrorists" for the second such attack on the Syrian capital in two weeks.<br /><br /></p>.<p>State television said the "powerful explosion" hit the historic Midan quarter in the heart of the capital.<br /><br />The Muslim Brotherhood again implicated President Bashar al-Assad's regime in the attack, echoing a charge levelled after the twin suicide blasts last month.<br /><br />"We hold the regime, its agents and its gangs, fully responsible for this crime," the Brotherhood said in a statement received by AFP in Nicosia.<br /><br />The attack, which took place in a heavily populated neighbourhood near a school, killed 25 people and wounded 45 others, state television said, adding that the casualties were mostly civilians but also some security personnel.<br /><br />It showed gruesome footage of rescuers gathering body parts and placing them in plastic bags, in an area where damaged cars and buses were splattered with blood.<br />Angry residents at the scene shouted and denounced the bombing as the work of "terrorists."<br /><br />The powerful December 23 bombings sparked a swirl of claims and counter-claims over who was responsible, with the authorities saying they were probably the work of Al-Qaeda and the opposition accusing the regime.<br /><br />Such counter-accusations resumed today, with state media labelling the blast a "terrorist bombing" as the Muslim Brotherhood called for an international and Arab probe, saying the attack benefitted the regime.<br /><br />"The killings in Syria will continue and the Syrian regime will keep hiding behind Al-Qaeda and the terrorists... unless someone confronts the regime and takes it to account for its crimes," said the Brotherhood.<br /><br />The attack came as activists called for an Arab League observer mission to admit its failure to stem nearly 10 months of bloodshed and hand over to the United Nations.</p>