Explosion at Syrian gas station kills, wounds dozens; opposition blames car bomb

An explosion at a crowded gasoline station killed or wounded dozens of people in Syria's capital on Thursday, according to opposition activists.

The station in Damascus reportedly was packed with people lining up for fuel, which has become scarce during a 21-month-long insurgency aimed at overthrowing President Bashar Al-Assad.

The opposition Revolution Leadership Council in Damascus said the explosion was caused by a booby-trapped car, but there were conflicting figures on the death toll. Reuters put it at 11 killed, with at least 40 wounded. The Associated Press had the death toll at nine.

More than 60,000 people have been killed in the 22-month-old uprising and civil war, the United Nations said this week, sharply raising the death toll estimate in a conflict that shows no sign of ending.

The explosion occurred in the Barzeh al-Balad district, whose residents include members of the Sunni Muslim majority and other religious and ethnic minorities.

It was the second time that a petrol station has been hit in Damascus this week. Dozens of people were incinerated in an air strike as they waited for fuel on Wednesday, according to opposition sources.

Meanwhile, rebels battled on Thursday to seize an air base in northern Syria, part of a campaign to fight back against the air power that has given Assad's forces free rein to bomb rebel-held towns.

After dramatic advances over the second half of 2012, the rebels now hold wide swathes of territory in the north and east, but are limited in exerting control because they cannot protect towns and villages from Assad's helicopters and jets.

Hundreds of fighters from rebel groups were attempting to storm the Taftanaz air base, near the northern highway that links Syria's two main cities, Aleppo and the capital Damascus.

Rebels have been besieging air bases across the north in recent weeks, in the hope this will reduce the government's power to carry out air strikes and resupply loyalist-held areas.

A rebel fighter speaking from near the Taftanaz base overnight said the base's main sections were still in loyalist hands but insurgents had managed to infiltrate and destroy a helicopter and a fighter jet on the ground.