Terror car bombs kill 50 in Damascus

More than 50 people were killed on Wednesday when a string of car bombs devastated a government-held suburb of Damascus in one of the bloodiest attacks to hit the Syrian capital since the civil war began.

As many as four bombs exploded in Jaramana, a largely loyalist town on the outskirts of Damascus that has played host to thousands of refugees and the families of government officials who have fled from other war-torn districts.

The blasts ripped through a central square near a petrol station early in the morning.

"After the first explosion, people rushed to help the injured and the second bomb went off, said Ismail Zlaiaa, 54, who lives in the neighbourhood.

Videos of the aftermath showed the remains of soot-covered buildings along a narrow street where the impact of the blast had brought walls down on to cars below.

Syrian state television showed grisly footage of body parts and blood-splattered buildings. Local hospitals were inundated with calls by people searching for loved ones. As the death toll grew, medical centres made appeals for blood donations.

The explosions are the fourth attack on the district over the past three months. Jaramana has a large population of Christians and Druze, an influential minority whose faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam.

The two minorities have avoided taking sides so far with either the regime or the opposition but they remain wary of the Sunni-led opposition.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings although Syrian state television claimed it was "terrorists", the term used for the opposition. However, some anti-government activists said the attack was an effort by the regime to "scare" the local population into supporting it.