At least 15 people have been killed and 48 injured after a car bomb was detonated in a suburb of the Syrian capital city of Damascus, state-run SANA news agency reported.
The reports said the explosions were heard in Jaramana suburb of the capital during a a funeral procession to the cemetery. The victims of the attack attended the funerals of two regime supporters who died the day before in a car bomb explosion in Damascus, Reuters has reported.
An eyewitness told Reuters that dozens of people were injured in Tuesday's blast, and several ambulances were seen at the site of the explosion
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the blast in Jaramana suburb and said it was caused by a car bomb.
"In the suburb of Jaramana, a car laden with explosives hit a funeral held for two regime supporters," said the watchdog, adding that "some people were critically injured."
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that Syrian military helicopters have dropped leaflets over Damascus and its suburbs urging rebels to hand over their weapons or face "inevitable death."
The Army Command warns rebel fighters in the leaflets that unless the opponents of President Bashar al-Assad lay down arms, they will be wiped out.
In related news, in his first interview with Western media since the conflict start on mid-March 2011, the Syrian foreign minister,Walid Muallem, told the Independent newspaper that the U.S. is behind Syria's violence.
"I tell the Americans: You must read well what you did in Afghanistan and Somalia. I don't understand your slogan of fighting international terrorism when you are supporting this terrorism in Syria," said Muallem, adding that Syria believes that the U.S. is the major player against Syria and the rest are its instruments.
Furthermore, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi called on the allies of Syria, Russia and China to help the ouster of President Assad.
"Now is the time to stop this bloodshed and for the Syrian people to regain its full rights. The regime that kills its people must disappear from the scene," Morsi told Reuters.
For his part, the chief of staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, said that the Russian military advisers have not left Syria and they continue to work in this country.
"Why are you concerned about Syria? Every project we have in this country is in force. Nobody has left, everyone works as planned," the general told reporters. "It is too early to draw a definitive line," he added.
According to Press TV, his comments came after some report began circulating in Russian media claiming that Moscow has decided to reduce the number of its military personnel in a naval center in the Syrian city of Tartus.
Sources: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/deadl y-bombing-hits-loyalist-funeral-outside- damascus/540935
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast /2012/08/2012828142438904165.html
