In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a Syrian man, left, stands in front of a building that was damaged after two bombs exploded near a military compound, in the city of Idlib, northwestern Syria, Monday, April 30, 2012. Two powerful bombs exploded near a military compound in the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on Monday, killing several people and causing heavy damage, Syrian state media and opposition activists said. (AP Photo/SANA)
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a Syrian man, left, stands in front of a building that was damaged after two bombs exploded near a military compound, in the city of Idlib, northwestern Syria, Monday, April 30, 2012. Two powerful bombs exploded near a military compound in the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on Monday, killing several people and causing heavy damage, Syrian state media and opposition activists said. (AP Photo/SANA)
Anti-Syrian regime mourners shout slogans and carry the body of activist Nour al-Zahraa, 23, who was shot by Syrian security forces on Sunday, during his funeral procession, in the Kfar Suseh area, in Damascus, Syria, on Monday, April 30, 2012. (AP Photo)
Syrian security forces, background, hold their machine guns and surround anti-Syrian regime mourners, foreground, during the funeral procession of the activist Nour al-Zahraa, 23, who was shot by the Syrian security forces on Sunday, in Kfar Suseh area, in Damascus, Syria, on Monday, April 30, 2012. (AP Photo)
An anti-Syrian regime mourner shouts slogans during the funeral procession of the activist Nour al-Zahraa, 23, who was shot by Syrian security forces on Sunday, in the Kfar Suseh area, in Damascus, Syria, on Monday, April 30, 2012. (AP Photo)
Anti-Syrian regime mourners carry the body of activist Nour al-Zahraa, 23, who was shot by Syrian security forces on Sunday, during his funeral procession, in the Kfar Suseh area, in Damascus, Syria, on Monday, April 30, 2012. (AP Photo)
BEIRUT (AP) ? In fresh attacks on symbols of state power, twin suicide bombs exploded Monday near a government security compound in northern Syria and rockets struck the central bank in Damascus, killing nine people and wounding 100.
The regime and the opposition traded blame, accusing each other of dooming a United Nations plan to calm violence that has largely failed so far. The head of the U.N. observer mission acknowledged that his force cannot solve the country's crisis alone and urged both sides to stop fighting.
The attacks are the latest in a series of suicide bombings that started in December and have mostly targeted Syrian military and intelligence positions.
The regime routinely blames the opposition, which denies having a role or the capability to carry out such attacks. After other similar bombings, U.S. officials suggested al-Qaida militants may be joining the fray, and an al-Qaida-inspired Islamist group has claimed responsibility for previous attacks in Syria.
The powerful blasts, which blew two craters in the ground and ripped the facade off a multistory building, came a day after Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the observer mission, took up his post in Damascus.
"Ten, 30, 300 or 1,000 observers will not solve all problems," he told reporters Monday. "So everyone has to help us achieve this mission."
More than 9,000 people have been killed in the 13-month crisis, according to the U.N.
An April 12 cease-fire agreement has helped reduce violence, but fighting persists, and U.N. officials have singled out the Syrian regime as the main aggressor.
An advance team of 16 U.N. observers is on the ground to try to salvage the truce, which is part of a broader plan by special envoy Kofi Annan to launch talks between President Bashar Assad and his opponents. By mid-May, the team is to grow to 100, but U.N. officials have not said when a full 300-member contingent is to be deployed.
Monday's bombs went off in the northern city of Idlib, an opposition stronghold that government troops recaptured in a military offensive earlier this year. TV footage of the aftermath from the blasts showed torn flesh, burned-out cars, twisted debris and pavement stained with blood. The force of the explosions shattered windows and sent debris flying for hundreds of meters (yards).
"Is this their freedom?" one man yelled at the cameras at one of the blast sites.
A distraught woman shouted: "What have we done to those people? What have women, children and the elderly done to them?"
The state-run news agency SANA said security forces and civilians were among those killed. State TV said that many of the nearly 100 wounded were civilians.
The bombers detonated their explosives near a military compound and near Idlib's Carlton Hotel, SANA said.
A local activist, who only gave his first name, Ibrahim, for fear of repercussions, said the two sites bombed in Idlib are several hundred meters apart and that the explosions went off within five minutes of each other after daybreak Monday.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. State media blamed "armed terrorists," a term it uses for rebels trying to topple the government. Activists claimed the regime was behind the bombings to discredit the opposition.
A statement by the Local Coordination Committees activist network called the series of suicide blasts "fabricated, staged explosions" and said "they can no longer fool anyone."
Two members of the U.N. observer team toured the site of the bombings, SANA said. Ibrahim said the observers have been staying at the Carlton, and a pro-government website reported that the hotel sustained some damage.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned "the terrorist bomb attacks" in Idlib and Damascus, U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said.
Analysts said it was doubtful the presence of U.N. observers would help improve the situation or halt such bombings.
"The U.N. is a political body, not an investigative body. The U.N. creates a political consensus among countries, but it's not a judge and jury about which side violated what agreement," said Jon Alterman, Middle East director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
An al-Qaida-inspired Islamist group called the Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant claimed responsibility Monday for a suicide bombing in downtown Damascus that killed at least 10 people on Friday. The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of Al-Nusra's statement, which was posted on a militant website.
Top U.S. intelligence officials also have pointed to al-Qaida in Iraq as the likely culprit behind the previous bombings, raising the possibility that its fighters are infiltrating across the border to take advantage of the turmoil.
Al-Qaida's leader called for President Bashar Assad's ouster in February.
Earlier Monday, gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at the central bank and at a police patrol in the capital of Damascus, wounding four officers, SANA said.
The bank's governor, Adib Mayaleh, said the only damage to the bank was shattered windows.
He also denied reports that Syria is trying to sell gold reserves to raise money as international sanctions take their toll. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said earlier this month that sanctions have reduced Syria's foreign currency reserves by half, from an estimated $17 billion at the start of the uprising.
The bank doesn't need to sell gold "as we have a big quantity of hard currency that can stand up to all those attacks," Mayaleh said.
As part of the cease-fire agreement, Syria's military was to have pulled tanks and troops off the streets, but it has instead continued to raid and attack opposition strongholds.
Near Damascus, amateur video posted Monday showed dozens of uniformed troops in helmets and body armor marching through a street in the suburb of Douma. A local activist, Mohammed Saeed, said the troops were carrying out arrests for a second day Monday.
In another suburb, Zamalka, activists said security forces tried to break a commercial strike by damaging shops that had been closed in solidarity with the protest.
In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned that "there is a limit to the patience of the international community" with the regime's continued truce violations.
However, Western powers have limited options because Russia and China, Syria's allies, have shielded Assad from U.N. Security Council action.
___
Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Karin Laub in Beirut and Edith M. Lederer at the U.N. contributed to this report.
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