A building damaged during the explosion

ALEPPO, Syria (Armenian Weekly)—A car explosion rocked a Christian neighborhood in Aleppo today, leaving 2 dead and 30 injured.

One of the buildings damaged by the explosion (Photo distributed by SANA)

The 200 kilograms of explosives were placed in a car in the Sulaymaniyeh neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, near a Latin church and two primary schools. It is in an area heavily populated by Christians, including many Armenians.

The explosion went off when security forces were attempting to evacuate residents after being tipped off. One of the victims was a member of the security forces; the other was Araxie Bedrosian, a Syrian-Armenian woman.

According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, the explosion caused major material damages in the neighborhood. It quoted a Syrian-Armenian living in the neighborhood as saying the explosion was an attempt to disrupt the social fabric of the country.

The state agency accused terrorists of being behind the act.

Opposition activists, in turn, accused the government of staging the explosion to support the official line that foreign-backed extremists are behind the uprising, reported Reuters.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The explosion came a day after 2 explosions killed 27 people in the capital Damascus and wounded nearly 100 others.

Aleppo had seen less unrest than much of Syria but has recently been hit with more violence as the revolt spreads and becomes increasingly bloody. The United Nations says more than 8,000 have been killed and humanitarian conditions are grim.