Al-Nusra Front, an Islamist group unknown before the Syrian revolt, has released a video claiming responsibility for twin suicide bombings in Damascus that killed 55 people.
The video says Thursday's bombings were "in response to regime bombing of residential areas in Damascus, Idlib, Hama, Daraa provinces and others".
The bombings were the deadliest since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime erupted in March 2011
Al-Nusra Front, which does not give a precise date for the attacks, says it has launched a "military operation in Damascus against the regime strongholds, targeting the Palestine branch of the security services."
Those were the buildings targeted in Thursday's bombings.
The statement accompanying the video, dated 10 May but posted on the site earlier today, is titled "Communique No. 4," although the group has already posted seven such communiques.
The group has claimed responsibility for previous attacks, including double blasts in Damascus on 17 March that killed 27 people, as well as two other deadly explosions in the capital and two in the northern city of Aleppo.
Thursday's car bombings in Damascus left 55 dead and nearly 400 wounded, with the regime and opposition trading accusations of responsibility.
