MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

AFP – “A suicide bomber killed at least four people in a Christian area of the Syrian capital on Thursday as aid groups said they cannot keep pace with the ever-growing suffering.

State media said the bomber struck near a church belonging to an order of the Maronite church, killing four people, a toll confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

‘A terrorist suicide bombing… in Damascus has left four people dead and several others wounded,’ state television reported said.

The Britain-based rights watchdog said in ‘a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the Mariamite church. According to preliminary reports, four people were killed and several others wounded.’

The Observatory also reported shelling in nearby Al-Amin Street, also in old Damascus, without going into further detail.

The latest violence in a conflict the Observatory says has killed more than 100,000 people comes as relief groups say they are unable to keep pace with the rising misery.

‘There is a huge discrepancy between the ability to cope with the Syrian crisis and the escalating speed in which the demands in Syria are growing,’ said Peter Maurer, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

‘And this gap still continues to widen as we speak,’ he said in Geneva, decrying ‘incredible violence and incredible suffering, and quite extraordinary violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict in Syria.’

On Tuesday, the World Food Programme warned that Syrians caught up in the war are cutting basic foods from their diets to save money, or resorting to begging to survive.

Maurer, presenting the ICRC’s 2012 annual report, said the Syrian conflict represents the organisation’s largest outlay, ahead of Afghanistan, with 101.3 million Swiss francs (82.2 million euros/$107.2 million) dedicated to addressing it this year.” Read more.

Flashback: Syria: At Least 10 Killed, Many Of Them Women And Children, After Another Car Bombing In Christian Suburb Of Damascus – “At least ten people were killed and 41 others were wounded Monday in a car bombing on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus. The blast blew apart pieces of surrounding buildings in the Christian and Druze suburb of Jaramana. Syrian state television said a ‘terrorist car bomb’ was responsible for the deaths, which included women and children …” Read more.

Flashback: Syria: Car Bomb Timed To Detonate In Christian Quarter Of Damascus As People Were Traveling To Church – “A car bomb exploded outside a police station in the Old City of Damascus on Sunday, drawing the city’s historical Christian quarter into the civil war… ‘The bomb exploded as people were moving to go to Churches for Sunday mass. It exploded just outside the police station. There was a bus stop right beside it … Terrorists are doing this,’ said George, a Christian who, like many residents in Bab Touma lives in fear of the rebel fighters trying to gain control of the capital.” Read more.