At least 55 killed in Damascus suicide bombings

Flames and smoke rise from burning cars after two bombs exploded in Syria Credit: AP Photo/SANA

Twin suicide car bomb blasts in the Syrian capital of Damascus have killed at least 55 people and wounded more than 372, according to the country's interior ministry.

They were the deadliest in Damascus since the start of Syria's uprising 14 months ago.

One of the rush hour explosions hit a district that houses a well-known military intelligence complex involved in President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on a 14-month uprising.

State media said earlier the majority of the casualties were civilians.

Syrian television blamed "terrorists" for the rush-hour blasts while the opposition said the government were behind the bombings.

The UN Security Council has strongly condemned the "terrorist attacks" and urged all parties to the conflict to cease all armed violence and comply with the UN backed peace plan.

ITV News' International Correspondent, John Irvine, reports from the Middle East.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has "strongly condemned" two suicide car bombings in Syria and called on all sides to cease armed violence and distance themselves from "indiscriminate bombings and other terrorist attacks."

His spokesman said:

Samir Nashar, executive member of the Syrian National Council said:

Earlier, the head of the U.N. monitoring mission in Syria, Major-General Robert Mood, visited the blast site. Mood told the press that the acts are "deplorable" and "undeserved" by Syrian civilians.

According to the spokesman for the UN Supervision Mission in Syria, the team of 70 UN military observers now in Syria should grow to more than 100 in the coming days.

A full team of 300 was expected by the end of the month to oversee a ceasefire intended to allow for talks on a political solution to the conflict.

ITV News Correspondent Paul Davies reported that the suicide bombers had driven in cars packed with explosives on the highway.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the latest spate of deadly attacks in Syria, calling on all parties to "halt violence and protect civilians".

Annan said in a statement that any act that escalates tensions and raises levels of violence "can only be counter-productive to the interests of all parties".