Damascus witnesses mortar attacks

A mortar shell crashed into headquarters of the Syrian Television and Radio building in the Syrian capital on Thursday, wounding two employees and inflicting damage, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said. Another shell fell into Al-Khodor neighborhood wounding one person and damaging a number of cars and buildings. A third one hit an apartment building in Al-Awadiah area but caused no losses. In the central city of Homs, three persons died and several others were wounded when a mortar shell crashed into a school housing scores of relocated families. Elsewhere, one Syrian was killed and 10 others were wounded in a booby-trapped car explosion in the town of Kanaker, located on outskirts of the capital. The explosion left extensive damage in nearby houses and properties. Meanwhile, Minister of Electricity Imad Khamees said in a statement to SANA power outage in Damascus and southern governorates was result of an attack that damaged gas and fuel pipelines in the southern areas. Electricity was cut off in Damascus, the city suburbs, Deraa, Al-Suwaidaa and Al-Qunaitrah. According to UN estimates, at least 100,000 people have died since flare-up of the Syrian crisis on March 15, 2011.