(CNN) – A wave of explosions targeting Syrian government forces killed dozens of people at a popular Aleppo square Wednesday in an attack for which a Syria-based extremist group has claimed responsibility.
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Al-Nusra Front said the strikes were carried out by suicide bombers driving cars packed with explosives, followed by raiders disguised in Syrian military uniforms, according to a statement posted on a website that publishes claims from extreme Islamist groups.
”The second explosion happened at 8:17 a.m. outside the Governorate Building where a suicide bomber blew up a car bomb loaded with 500 kg of explosive material,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Two mortar shells also fell near the Municipal Palace, it said.
At least 40 people were killed and about 90 were wounded when three car bombs exploded in Saadallah Al-Jabiri Square, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Though Syrian state-run media put the death toll at 34, with 122 injured. State television, meanwhile, aired footage of the carnage, which included the bloody and mangled bodies of men in military uniforms.
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A fourth car bomb exploded near Aleppo’s chamber of commerce, the government and opposition said. The number of casualties from that incident was not immediately known.
The blasts highlight the escalating crisis in Aleppo, Syria’s most populous city, which has morphed into a major battleground between government and rebel forces.
Commenting on the suicide blasts, Ribal Al-Assad, Director of the ODFS, said:
“I condemn these heinous terrorist attacks. The perpetrators must be brought to justice. The cross border arms flow to Islamist groups has led to greater violence and killings which has brought Syria close to an unstoppable civil war. Therefore I call on all those who are supplying weapons to stop and for the the violence to end.
“I urge both sides in the Syrian conflict to pursue diplomacy as set out in the Kofi Annan plan so that a peaceful inclusive and democratic transition may take place.”
