Syrian govt army boasts 'significant achievements'

DAMASCUS - Explosions and clashes continued Tuesday in Syria between the government troops and various rebels groups as the regional command of the ruling al-Baath party stressed that the Syrian army is making "significant achievements" on the path of restoring security and stability in the country.

Two explosive devices planted by "terrorists" went off Tuesday inside the Martyears' Sons School in the Syrian capital Damascus, injuring seven people, the state TV quoted the school's principal as saying.

Mohammad Amin Othman, the school's general director, said the two improvised explosive devices also caused some minor material damage.

Othman denied media reports about his death along with his deputy and several other people as "absolutely untrue."

He said in a statement that the conditions at the school are good now, stressing that there are no impediments hindering the new academic year in the boarding school that will open by the beginning of October.

Activists said the blast was caused by seven explosive charges that targeted the school "which has been used by pro-government militias and security officers as a command center." They added that many officers were killed in the blast, which the school principal has also denied.

Meanwhile, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said an explosive device affixed under a car went off in al-Zahera district of Damascus, killing at least one person and injuring others. The report could not be checked with official media.

The blasts are the latest in a series of explosions that have been rocking Syria since last year when the bloody crisis erupted. The last blast took place in central Damascus Sunday evening, when an explosive device tore through a footbridge in the capital and killed one person.

The UN-Arab League joint special representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said Monday that the situation in Syria is " extremely bad" and is getting worse.

Brahimi told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York that "There is no disagreement that the situation in Syria is a threat to the region and a threat to the peace and security in the world. "

The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria has confirmed the increasing presence of foreign elements, including jihadist militants, in Syria.

The Syrian government has from the beginning blamed the unrest on armed extremists acting out a foreign plot but not true reform seekers. Activists said the 18-month-old unrest in Syria killed more than 23,000 people, while some official sources said at least 8,000 army and security personnel have so far been killed.

Meanwhile, the regional command of the ruling al-Baath party stressed in a statement Tuesday that the Syrian army is making " significant achievements and progress" on the path of restoring the homeland's security and stability.

The remarks came at a time the state-run SANA news agency quoted an official source as saying that the Syrian troops have totally finished purging the Arkoub area in northern Aleppo province from armed insurgency.

Quoted by SANA, the source said that "the operation was qualitative and carried out successfully with little losses in the ranks of the Syrian army that has killed many of the criminal terrorists in the area."

The army carried out another operation Tuesday in Aleppo in al- Sakhour area and dealt a blow to many armed men, according to SANA.

In the capital Damascus, the Syrian troops finished cleansing the Sbaineh suburb from armed opposition groups and declared it a "secure area."

In a separate account, the oppositional Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 101 Syrians have been killed so far Tuesday. It said the toll includes 59 unarmed civilians, including four children, 16 rebel fighters and 26 government forces' personnel. The observatory also reported clashes and shelling by government troops on a number of hotspots nationwide.

Still, the activists' account could not be checked independently.

Meanwhile, the al-Baath's statement stressed that the political solution to the Syrian crisis should be based on an unconditional dialogue among the Syrians and the commitment to the plural democracy practices to reach a solution and go to the ballot boxes.

The statement voiced the party's backing of launching an unconditional national dialogue among the political forces to formulate a national approach to develop Syria, secure its stability, fortify its national unity and continue confronting the "armed terrorist groups" working to undermine the political solution project.