Bomb explosions in Damascus 'kill at least five'

Two bombs have struck the Syrian capital Damascus, according to state media and opposition activists.

Two bombs have struck the Syrian capital Damascus, according to state media and opposition activists. A motorcycle bomb in the Rukn al-Din area killed at least five members of the security forces, state TV said.

Hours later, a car bomb struck the district of Mazzeh, near the Ministry of Information. It is not clear whether there were any casualties. The blasts came as opposition activists said 55 people had been killed in fighting across the country on Friday.

Earlier on Friday the head of the international Red Cross said his talks with President Bashar al-Assad had been “positive”. Peter Maurer said they had focused on the need to reduce barriers to delivering aid and ensure aid workers could gain access to detainees.

“What we have today is commitments, what we have is a mechanism to implement those commitments,” he added. “But we will have, of course, to witness whether commitments and mechanisms are producing results.”