A bomb blast struck the Syrian state television headquarters on Monday in the heart of Damascus wounding several people
A bomb blast struck the Syrian state television headquarters on Monday in the heart of Damascus wounding several people.
Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi said there were no deaths in the morning bombing of the state television buildings in the heavily protected Omayyad district of Damascus.
"It is clear that the blast was caused by an explosive device," Zoabi said. "Several of our colleagues were injured, but there were no serious injuries, and no dead."
The broadcaster said that the blast hit the third floor of its headquarters. It remained on the air despite the bombing.
Monday's was not the first attack on the pro-government media in Syria. On June 27, gunmen armed with explosives attacked the offices outside Damascus of the Al-Ikhbariya satellite channel, killing three journalists and four security guards.
The blast comes just two days after the army said it had seized Tadamun, the last insurgent-held district of Damascus, after heavy fighting, and authorities took journalists on an escorted tour.
"We have cleansed all the districts of Damascus, from Al-Midan to Mazzeh, from Al-Hajar Al-Aswad to Qadam... to Tadamun," an officer told reporters at the time.
A senior security official said on Sunday that the army had completed its deployment of reinforcements to Aleppo, ready for a decisive showdown. "The war is likely to be long, because there will have to be street battles in order to get rid of the terrorists," the source told AFP, declining to be named.
"All the reinforcements have arrived and they are surrounding the city," he said. "The army is ready to launch its offensive, but is awaiting orders."
The official said at least 20,000 troops were on the ground. "The other side are also sending reinforcements," he added of the insurgents.
A senior government security figure warned at the weekend that "the battle for Aleppo has not yet begun, and what is happening now is just the appetiser... The main course will come later."
