BEIRUT — A series of explosions that hit just west of Damascus early Sunday, sending fiery mushroom-shaped clouds towering over the landmark Mount Qasioun and brightening the night sky above the city, left the region concerned about an unexpected escalation in the Syrian war.
The Syrian government immediately blamed Israel for the explosions, whose power appeared to far outstrip that of any weapons in the rebel arsenal; many Damascus residents said the attack was by far the most fearsome near the capital in more than two years of fighting.
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But the explosions that struck Damascus on Sunday, shaking the ground across the city, appeared to be of far greater magnitude and potentially broader political and military significance.
¶ The attack raised the possibility that Israel, even if merely intending to pursue its own national security goals, could be providing a major psychological and perhaps military assist to Syrian rebels, who over the last several weeks have faced losses in a series of government offensives around Damascus and the city of Homs to the north.
The Syrian government immediately blamed Israel for the explosions, whose power appeared to far outstrip that of any weapons in the rebel arsenal; many Damascus residents said the attack was by far the most fearsome near the capital in more than two years of fighting.
...
But the explosions that struck Damascus on Sunday, shaking the ground across the city, appeared to be of far greater magnitude and potentially broader political and military significance.
¶ The attack raised the possibility that Israel, even if merely intending to pursue its own national security goals, could be providing a major psychological and perhaps military assist to Syrian rebels, who over the last several weeks have faced losses in a series of government offensives around Damascus and the city of Homs to the north.
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