Interior ministry says attack has all the fingerprints of terror group though opposition activists have expressed doubts
Syria's government has blamed al-Qaida for a suicide bombing which reportedly killed at least 11 people in a Damascus suburb on another Friday of protests across the country.
Government officials and media said the unidentified bomber detonated an explosive belt next to buses carrying policemen in Midan, in the south of the capital, just before weekly anti-regime demonstrations were expected in the area.
The dead and more than 60 injured were said to be mostly civilians, according to the state news agency Sana. The interior ministry described the modus operandi and intention to cause mass casualties as having the "fingerprints of al-Qaida".
The attack triggered furious condemnation from the regime and loud demonstrations of support for President Bashar al-Assad, who is under mounting international pressure over the continuing crackdown on the 10-month uprising – the bloodiest episode of the Arab spring.
The bomber's remains were left at the scene for several hours before being taken away for DNA tests. These and other body parts were repeatedly displayed for journalists who were bussed in by the Syrian ministry of information.
The incident came as Arab observers again fanned out across the country to monitor violence and gather testimony about human rights violations. The Arab League is due to discuss the monitoring mission on Sunday amid complaints that it is not being effective.
"This is Syrian blood," one security official screamed for the cameras as he waved a surgical glove oozing with gore. "This is the crime of the Arab League."
The attack took place outside a police station adjoining a primary school and a busy road, with a mosque nearby and shops all around. The bomb was detonated at a traffic light under a concrete flyover, shattering windows and destroying several police cars. There was no sign of any burning.
"This is the heart of the neighbourhood," said Omar Mikdad, a correspondent for the Ba'ath newspaper. "On a Friday morning people are out buying food and going to the mosque. Whoever did this knew that a lot of people would die."
Demonstrators, some waving flags, came in their hundreds to gawp and shout slogans, chanting "the people want Bashar al-Assad" and "Allah, Syria, Bashar, and that's it" – with its echo of support for Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.
"I heard the explosion," said Jamila Qabalan, a middle-aged woman who lives nearby. "What is happening in this country? They are spilling Syrian blood and we are afraid." Speaking on TV, another man said: "Only dogs and pigs would do this. It's haram [forbidden]."
Syrian opposition activists expressed doubts about the official version of events, suggesting it might be convenient for the government to be able to focus on terrorism to divert attention away from popular protests.
Syrian officials blamed a twin bombing on Damascus security on 23 December on al-Qaida. Western officials have described those as a professional operation employing military explosives used by jihadi groups in Iraq and elsewhere.
"People were just getting over the first suicide bombing and now this," said a western diplomat. "It's grim."
Initial reports said 25 had died in the Midan attack but a statement by the interior minister later amended this figure to 11, amid suggestions that the difference was due to the difficulty of identifying the victims from remains. Sana said 15 others could also have died.
Information ministry officials said they were unable to provide the Guardian with the names of the dead and injured or to say in which hospitals they were being treated. But Sana showed grisly pictures of those caught up in the attack.