Suicide bombing in Aleppo, clashes in Damascus, activists say

New battles in neighborhoods allegedly attacked with chemical weapons on Wednesday

By AP and ToI Staff 23 August 2013, 12:45 pm

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A Syrian man mourns over a dead body after an alleged poisonous gas attack fired by regime forces, according to activists, in Douma town, Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday, August 21, 2013. (photo credit: AP/Media Office of Douma City)

A suicide bombing attack killed six people Friday in the Syrian city of Aleppo, Syrian state media and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The blast struck a group celebrating the graduation of a student at a restaurant and killed a journalist working for government-run media, according to an AFP report.

The official SANA news agency identified the journalist as al-Ikhbariya TV correspondent Hassan Muhanna.

In Damascus, activists were reporting fierce battles and shelling in suburbs of the Syrian capital where the opposition claimed a chemical-weapons attack this week killed more than 100 people. Some reports claimed up to 1,300 deaths.

In neighboring Lebanon, the army said in a statement that troops have captured a truck with “large amounts” of gas masks in the southeastern village of Kfeir, near the border with Syria.

It did not say whether the masks were heading to Syria.

The offensive entered its third day Friday and comes as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Syrian government to allow a UN team currently in Damascus to swiftly investigate the alleged attack.

Ban is also sending UN disarmament chief Angela Kane to Syria to press for an investigation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the fighting Friday.