Syria: Blast hits Aleppo as heavy clashes and protests continue across the country

People gather at the site of an explosion of a bomb car that went off behind a security office in Aleppo city March 18, 2012. A car bomb hit Syria's second city Aleppo on Sunday, a day after blasts killed 27 in Damascus, and security forces arrested and beat activists at a rare anti-government protest in the centre of the capital. (Reuters Pictures)

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb ripped through a residential area of Syria's second city Aleppo on Sunday, as activists reported heavy clashes across the country between state forces and rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

World powers have been unable to stop more than a year of bloodshed in Syria, a country that sits on the fault lines of several regional and ethnic conflicts. Recent army gains against rebel positions have shown no sign of quelling the violence and no negotiated settlement is in sight.

In Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub, state news agency SANA said terrorists were behind the car bomb that killed two people and wounded 30 others when it exploded in a central area close to a state security office and a church.

Opposition activists accused the government of staging the explosion to back up its official line that foreign-backed extremists are behind the uprising. The government says about 2,000 members of security forces have been killed in the unrest.

The explosion came a day after twin blasts killed 27 people in the capital Damascus and wounded nearly 100 others.

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