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First Posted: 3/18/2012 DAMASCUS, Syria &amp;#8212; Two suicide bombers detonated cars packed with explosives in near-simultaneous attacks on heavily guarded intelligence and security buildings in the Syrian capital Damascus Saturday, killing at least 27 people.
There have been a string of large-scale bombings against the regime in its stronghold of Damascus that suggest a dangerous, wild-card element in the year-old anti-government revolt. The regime blamed the opposition, which denied having a role or the capabilities to carry out such a sophisticated attack. And after other similar attacks, U.S. officials suggested al-Qaida militants may be joining the fray.
Al-Qaida's leader called for President Bashar Assad's ouster in February.
The early morning explosions struck the heavily fortified air force intelligence building and the criminal security department, several miles apart in Damascus, at approximately the same time, the Interior Ministry said. Much of the facade of the intelligence building appeared to have been ripped away.
State-run news agency SANA said a third blast went off near a military bus at the Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk in Damascus, killing the two suicide bombers.
The first explosion around 7 a.m. targeted the air force intelligence building in the residential district of al-Qassaa, a predominantly Christian area. It caused destruction in a 100-yard radius.
State TV aired gruesome images of the scene, with mangled and charred corpses, bloodstained streets and twisted steel. 
It carried interviews with the wounded in the hospital.
"Is this the assistance promised by Qatar and Saudi Arabia?" asked one of the injured.
The two Gulf powerhouses have been fiercely critical of the Syrian government's crackdown on dissent and have been discussing military aid to the rebels.

Twin suicide blasts kill dozens