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Thursday's bombings were among the deadliest since such spectacular attacks started in December 2011, with a double suicide bombing of a Damascus security building that killed at least 44 people. Fresh attacks have followed in other cities, including Idlib in the north and Aleppo, Syria's largest city and long considered an Assad stronghold. Most of the attacks target state security offices and occur early morning. The government blames the bombings on the terrorists it says are behind the anti-Assad uprising. Opposition leaders and activists routinely blame the regime for orchestrating the attacks, saying they help it demonize the opposition and maintain support among those who fear greater instability. A shadowy group called the Al-Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks in statements posted on military websites. Little is known about the group, though Western intelligence officials say it could be a front for al-Qaida's Iraq branch. International diplomacy has failed to stop the bloodshed, and the U.N. has ruled out military intervention of the type that helped bring down Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, in part out of fear that it could exacerbate the violence. Special envoy Kofi Annan brokered a peace plan last month, but the initiative has been troubled from the start, with government troops shelling opposition areas and rebels attacking military convoys and checkpoints after the cease-fire was supposed to begin on April 12. Many civilians have grown critical of the plan, saying it does not protect them from regime forces.
Although the daily death toll has dropped in recent days, Annan said Tuesday that the level of violence is unacceptable and that the plan's failure could lead to civil war. A team of 70 U.N. military observers now in Syria should grow to more than 100 in the coming days. A full team of 300 is expected by the end of the month to oversee a cease-fire intended to allow for talks on a political solution to the conflict. On Wednesday, a roadside bomb hit a Syrian military truck in a southern province just seconds after the U.N.'s Maj. Gen. Mood was driving by in a convoy, demonstrating the fragility of the international plan to end the country's bloodshed. Syria's conflict started in March 2011 with mass protests calling for political reform. The government swiftly cracked down, dispatching tanks, troops, snipers and pro-government thugs to quash dissent, and many members of the opposition took up arms to defend themselves and attack government troops. Many soldiers also switched sides. The U.N said weeks ago that more than 9,000 people had been killed. Hundreds more have died since.
[Associated
Press;
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