Sectarian bombs kill 10 in Damascus

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DAMASCUS, Syria, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Syrian rebels targeting President Bashar Assad's ruling Muslim Alawite sect set off several deadly bombs in Damascus Tuesday, rights groups said.

Details were sketchy late Tuesday, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in London said three bombs in an Alawite suburb exploded, killing 10 people and injuring at least 40 others.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported the bombings, but provided few details.

Hours later in what appeared to be a retaliatory strike, a car bomb exploded outside a Sunni Muslim mosque, although casualty figures weren't immediately reported.

Since March 2011, the country has been wracked by violence with armed rebels demanding the end to the reign of Assad.

The Syrian rights group told the BBC nearly 50 people were killed throughout the country Tuesday by government military air raids.

Since the rebellion began, Assad has defied international calls for him to step down and allow democratic elections.