BEIRUT, Lebanon (NYT) — An explosion struck a gas station in the Syrian capital, Damascus, early on Friday, killing at least 10 people in the second attack in three days on people lining up for scarce fuel.
A bomb struck the Qasioun gas station in the northeastern Damascus neighborhood of Barzeh, killing and wounding many people, the government news agency SANA reported. The news agency blamed terrorists, its shorthand for government opponents. A long video clip from the semiofficial news channel Al Ikhbariya showed what appeared to be 10 burned corpses near a row of gas containers while solemn, patriotic music played in the background.
Antigovernment activists said the explosion was caused by a bomb in a car or minibus, and they put the death toll at 9 to 11, adding that it could rise because many victims were in critical condition. [...]
Reports of apparent summary executions by government forces continue to surface. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a rebel group that tracks the war from Britain, circulated two videos that it said were leaked from security forces. Their source could not be independently verified.
In one video, a soldier addresses his mother, appearing to suggest that he is killing a detainee in pre-emptive revenge in case a brother, perhaps serving in the army or missing, ends up dead: “I’m going to shoot a terrorist in case my brother Alaa doesn’t come back, Mom.”
After shooting the man, he continues: “Did you hear, mother? My brother Alaa and all the soldiers want Bashar al-Assad.”
Other voices then join him, saying this is the punishment of those who betray Mr. Assad.
Another video, circulated several days ago, shows men in uniform smiling at the camera near two prisoners standing against a wall with clothing over their heads. The men in uniform first slash the clothing of the prisoners, then stab them repeatedly as they groan and keel over.
But who cares? There are Jews building houses in Jerusalem.
Bomb Attack in Syria Kills at Least 10 as Reports of Executions Surface
