DAMASCUS, Syria — Twin suicide car bombs ripped through a Damascus suburb minutes apart on Wednesday, killing at least 34 people, state media said, and rebels claimed they shot down a Syrian air force fighter jet.
The state news agency, SANA, said suicide bombers detonated two cars packed with explosives early in the morning in the eastern suburb of Jaramana, a Christian and Druse area known as mostly loyal to President Bashar Assad.
Suicide bombings have struck regime targets in Damascus and elsewhere since last December. Such attacks are a trademark of radical Muslim groups fighting alongside other rebels units, raising concerns of growing influence of Islamic extremists among the forces seeking to topple the regime.
Wednesday’s bombs were detonated in a parking lot near a cluster of commercial buildings as groups of laborers and employees were arriving for work, killing 34 and injuring 83 people, SANA said.
