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                Syrian TV: Suicide Bombers Strike Military Again

   by VOA News

   The death toll in Syria is rising following another suicide bombing
   apparently targeting the country's military.

   Syrian state television says nine people are now dead and more than 100
   injured after a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb in Syria's
   eastern city of Deir el-Zour Saturday.

   Video from the scene - an area just outside of a military compound -
   shows smoke rising from the twisted wreckage of vehicles near the blast
   site.

   No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but state television
   pinned the blame on terrorists, saying the car bomb was rigged with
   1,000 kilograms of explosives -- enough to leave a significant crater
   and damage nearby buildings.

   The attack further threatens to erode the tenuous cease-fire between
   the government and opposition forces.

   In Damascus Saturday, United Nations Under Secretary-General for
   Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous, defended the agency's efforts to enforce
   the cease-fire.

   "I would remind you that this is a process," said Ladsous. "We have
   reached certain elements of our objectives. We are not there yet, but
   it is a process that will be continuing with the support of all those
   concerned in order, first and foremost, to achieve this cessation and,
   in the first time, confirm the reduction of the violence."
   There are now more than 200 unarmed U.N. peacekeepers in Syria, a
   number that should reach 300 by the end of the month.

   Last week, twin bombings in Damascus killed 55 people. U.N.
   Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he believed al-Qaida was behind
   those attacks.

   Tensions between the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and
   opposition groups remain high.

   Activists accused Syrian forces of using tear gas and live ammunition
   on protesters in Aleppo on Friday, in what opposition groups called one
   of the biggest protests since the anti-government uprising began 15
   months ago.

   Hopes for peace may get some boost from international envoy Kofi
   Annan.  A spokesman says the former U.N. chief is planning to return to
   Damascus to again pursue a peaceful solution to the conflict.

   The United Nations says the death toll from violence related to the
   anti-government uprising that erupted more than a year ago may now
   reach 10,000.
   Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-deir-el-zour-explosion/727331.h
   tml

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-deir-el-zour-explosion/727331.html