UN monitors hit in roadside attack injuring 8 Syrian soldiers south of Damascus

On Wednesday, a large explosion hit cars accompanying United Nations monitors travelling on a road outside Deraa some 110 kilometres south of Damascus.

Major General Robert Mood, the head of the U.N. monitors, was accompanied by several officers, including his spokesman Neeraj Singh, but there were no reports of any of the observers being wounded.

This is the first time that an explosion targets observers who have been deployed in Syria since April 15 to monitor a cease-fire continually ignored.

Eight Syrian soldiers were wounded, according to AFP. "The device exploded after the passage of four U.N. vehicles."

Behind these vehicles were those of the Syrian army and journalists who have been "thrown into the air," an eyewitness said.

Major General Robert Mood said the attack was "a graphic example of violence that the Syrian people do not need".

"It is imperative that violence in all its forms must stop", Mood was quoted as saying by Singh, who added: "We remain focused on our task."

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern at the growing use of roadside and other improvised bombs across Syria.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but Syria's rebel leader, Col. Riad al-Assad,accused the regime of planning for the attack.

He accused the regime of trying to "corroborate its theory on the presence of terrorists and Salafists in Syria, which is contrary to reality."

France has, for its part, condemned the attack. "We hold the Damascus regime responsible for the safety of observers," said Bernard Valero, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.

According to state news agency, SANA, there was no immediate evidence that UN monitors in the convoy were the target of today's attack.

Moreover, Syrian troops killed at least 23 people in fighting across Syria on Tuesday as regime forces pounded Duma, near Damascus, activists told Al Arabiya news.

Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/09/212975.html