Aleppo Explosion Marks Second Day Of Violence In Syria

An explosion that rocked the city of Aleppo on Friday marks the second day of violence in a country on the edge of collapse.

Syria has seen a rise in violence in the last year, especially since U.N. mediator Kofi Annan declared a ceasefire in April. That declaration appears to have had little to no effect in the country.

Reuter’s reports that Friday’s blast was close to the ruling party’s headquarters, according to the Syrian Oservatory for Human Rights.

The group stated in an email that:

“Initial details indicate that the Aleppo blast was targeting the local branch of the ruling Baath party and there is no information until now on the number of victims that fell in the explosion.”

CNN has reported that following the blast, heavy gunfire was heard in the area. An activist, who asked not to be named, stated that:

“The sound was so loud and after that there were a lot of echoes of gun fire. Now all the roads leading to Saadallah al-Jabiry square are closed down.”

No cause was discovered for the blast, although state media said that Syrian authorities had foiled an attempted suicide bombing in the city earlier in the day.

Officers reportedly “intercepted a stolen booby-trapped minibus,” which an attacker attempted to detonate in al-Shaar, a densely populated neighborhood in Aleppo.

The state news agency, SANA (Syrian Arab News Agency) stated that a source in Aleppo told them that “competent authorities intercepted the terrorist after he hit two policemen, then he blew himself up with an explosive belt, killing himself.”

The source went on to tell SANA that authorities who searched the minibus found four tanks full of “a big quantity of explosives.”