Bomb Rocks Central Damascus

Civilians search for personal belongings in the rubble of their house following shelling from Syrian government forces in the Syrian northern city of Aleppo on Aug. 25. Syrian rebels say they are digging in for a war of attrition in Aleppo, where what was being billed as the 'mother of all battles' is now dragging on into a second month of bloody stalemate. (Aris Messinis/AFP/GettyImages)

Rebel fighters said they detonated bombs in central Damascus at an army headquarters on Sunday, suggesting they are again trying to target the regime’s central leadership.

The blast was confirmed by state-run television, which blamed the attack on “terrorism.” The attack was carried out near a guard battalion on Abu Remmaneh street.

The Free Syrian Army’s Ahfad al-Rasul [Grandchildren of the Prophet] claimed responsibility for the attack, reported Al Jazeera.

“This operation was carried out in response to the massacres in Daraya,” the group said, making reference to a massacre of hundreds of mostly civilians in the Damascus suburb of Daraya.

A rebel bombing in July killed four members of President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle, including the defense minister and Assad’s brother-in-law.

The move comes as two activist groups told The Associated Press that 5,000 people were killed in the conflict in the past month—by far the deadliest month during the 17 months of unrest.

“The past month witnessed large massacres and the regime was conducting wide operations to try to crush the uprising,” said Omar Idilbi, an activist with the Local Coordination Committees. He blamed the increasing use of air force bombings and artillery bombardments for the spike in deaths.