Syria blames Damascus bomb on Al-Qaeda-linked groups

The Syrian foreign ministry blamed a car bombing that killed more than 50 people in the capital on Thursday on "terrorist" groups linked to the extremist Al-Qaeda network.

The attack in Damascus was "carried out by armed terrorist groups linked to Al-Qaeda that receive financial and logistic help from abroad," the ministry said in a statement, using government terminology for rebels battling the Syrian regime.

According to experts the car bomb which was set off contained more than a ton of explosives.

More than 50 people were killed and about 300 injured.

Considerable damage was done to nearby buildings and dozens of cars were damaged.

The explosion left a crater of 2 to 3 meters in diameter.