Syrian Civil War: Casualties in Aleppo Rocket Attack, Twin Suicide Bombings Near Mosque South of Damascus

Syrian civil war casualties continue to mount, as two suicide car bomb blasts rocked Daraa, near the capital city of Damascus on Friday, and a rocket attack hit the northern city of Aleppo.

"State TV said fighters with Jabhat al-Nusra, a group the U.S. has declared a terrorist organization, were behind the twin blasts in Daraa," writes the Washington Post.

"With the two sides deadlocked on the northern front, rebels have increasingly targeted state security facilities and government institutions in other parts of the country, including in the capital, Damascus. Suicide attacks have been a hallmark of the Islamic rebel units that have been fighting alongside other opposition fighters."

The two attacks seem to have targeted civilians, though reports are sketchy.

"State TV also reported that attacks had occurred near a mosque in southern city of Deraa, but gave no details regarding the casualty figures and the number of wounded," says Al Jazeera. "The attack occurred when worshippers were leaving a mosque following Friday prayers in the southern city, the state TV said."

But both sides blame each other for the attack in Aleppo.

"The state-run SANA news agency said the morning attack in Aleppo was carried out by terrorists, a term the regime uses for rebels. But the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an activist group, and the Aleppo Media Center, a network of anti-regime activists, accused the government of launching an airstrike," said the Boston Globe.

Al Jazeera reports several casualties.

"Video broadcast on Syrian state TV showed several floors of the targeted building collapsed in a government-controlled area of the city, Syria's largest urban centre and main commercial hub. A man was seen carrying a baby out of the damaged building and another man was seen clutching his head as blood ran down his forehead."

Neither side wants to take the blame for recent carnage in Aleppo. On Tuesday, 87 people died in a rocket attack at Aleppo University.

The authoritarian regime of Bashar al-Assad has been fighting a civil war against heavily-armed rebels for nearly two years, in a conflict that has left more than 60,000 people dead.