Apr. 28 - A gun fight in the diplomatic district of Damascas, Syria, (very near the Canadian and Iranian embassies) is being blamed on al Qaeda, according to this report at the Daily Telegraph (UK) (Al-Qa'eda gunmen attack Syrian capital.)

An unoccupied car was bombed which brought police, a gun fight ensued, and an empty UN building was burned.

2 attackers were killed and the 2 captured were critically injured. Weapons and explosives were seized in a house said to be used by the group.

This is unbelievable. (I really mean that.) There doesn't seem to have been any real target, and there are a large number of conflicting reports as to how many explosions there were.

Why would al Qaeda, or any terrorist group, be in the vicinity of a number of embassies as well as the British ambassador's residence and go after an abandoned building?

According to CNN,

The Interior Ministry source blamed the incident on the atmosphere created by instability and confusion in security and politics in the region.

"The Syrian Republic ... is condemning this terrorist attack," the source said, contending it was meant to affect the stability and security of the country.

Syria's ambassador to the United States, Imad Mustafa, appeared to blame al-Qa'eda for the attack last night.

"We have been doing our best against al-Qa'eda," he said. "We share the same enemy [as America]. We aid the US in its fight against al-Qa'eda and terrorism."

Apr. 29 - 12:11: A bit of follow-up here, including speculation that the abandoned building was targeted by a car bomb by mistake and the intended target was the nearby home of the British ambassador.

Posted by: Debbye at 10:43 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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