Twin bombings in Damascus kill at least 27

Syrian security officers inspecting the site of a bomb blast in Damascus on March 17, 2012. 

Firefighters extinguish a fire in a damaged building near the aviation intelligence department, which was attacked by one of two explosions in Damascus on March 17, 2012.=Two explosions struck the heart of Damascus on Saturday, killing at least 27 people in an attack on security installations that state television blamed on "terrorists" seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Shaam via AFP - Getty Images

Smoke rising from the scene following twin bombings in Damascus on March 17, 2012.

Cars packed with explosives targeted the criminal police headquarters and an air security intelligence centre at 7.30 a.m. (1.30 a.m. ET), television said, shredding the facade of one building and sending debris flying through the streets.

At least 27 people were killed and 140 wounded, an interior ministry statement said.

"We heard a huge explosion. At that moment the doors in our house were blown out ... even though we were some distance from the blast," said one elderly man, his head wrapped in a bandage.. 

Smoke rising from the scene following twin bombings in Damascus on March 17, 2012. 

Syrian Civil Defence members carrying a man who was injured in a bomb blast in Damascus on March 17, 2012. 

A burnt out car at the site of a bombing in Damascus on March 17, 2012.