Syria: Aleppo Bombings Kill More Than 30

More than 30 people have been killed in a wave of suicide bombings in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

The attacks occurred in a series of three car bombings near an officers' club in the north of the country. 

State media say the bombing caused massive destruction, further trapping scores more under the rubber. The number of dead is expected to rise.

One shaken resident told state-run Ikhbariya TV: "It was like a series of earthquakes. It was terrifying, terrifying."

Local activist Mohammad Saeed said the explosions went off minutes apart at one of the city's main squares. He said the blasts were followed by clashes and heavy gunfire.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the attacks, adding a fourth car bomb went off in the Bab Jnein area near the Chamber of Commerce, causing an unspecified number of casualties there.

The conflict in Syria has now been going on for 18 months - with opponents to President Bashar al Assad's regime targeting security agencies and soldiers more regularly.

There had been unsubstantiated rumours that Mr Assad had been in the city.

Last week Syrian opposition fighters launched a new more intense campaign to take Aleppo, the commercial hub of Syria as well as its largest city.