Children ‘die in Syrian blast’

An unknown number of casualties were killed and injured in the blasts outside a state-run development agency in the village of Ziyara and in a second attack in the capital Damascus, above.

The first explosion was said to be a suicide attack raising the spectre of Islamic terrorism.

Activists claimed that as many as 50 soldiers had been killed, although state media put the death toll at two civilians.

The latest violence to be unleashed came as the main opposition coalition had broadened its membership to 400, taking in activists and groups from inside Syria. The group will later this week consider a plan to set up a new leadership organisation speaking for all the major opposition factions.