Syria Says Damascus Attacks Staged by 'Terrorists' Funded Abroad

Syria said Thursday's suicide attacks that killed at least 55 people and wounded hundreds was the work of "terrorists" armed and funded by foreign organizations and media.

The foreign ministry made the accusation in a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hours after the deadliest bombing attacks of the country's 14-month uprising, which also wounded nearly 400 people in Damascus.

"These crimes show that Syria is targeted by a terrorist attack launched by organizations armed and funded by parties who proclaim their backing to terrorist crimes," state-run SANA news agency quoted the message as saying.

It also accused unnamed "media that incite violence of being behind these terrorist crimes."

These media ask rebels "to commit crimes by offering them in exchange media coverage" of their fight against the regime," the message said.

The ministry also said that "300 soldiers and members of the security forces have been killed by armed terrorist groups since April 12," when a putative ceasefire technically went into effect.

"Terrorists" is the term used by authorities to refer to rebels seeking to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The government has repeatedly accused the Doha-based Al-Jazeera and Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channels of inciting violence in Syria.

Qatar, home of Al-Jazeera, and Saudi Arabia have called for the arming of the rebels fighting the Assad regime.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says more than 12,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in since the revolt against the Assad regime broke out in March last year.