Sana, via European Pressphoto Agency  Firefighters examined the damage left by a bomb attack on a gas station in the Damascus neighborhood of Barzeh on Friday, the second assault this week on people who sought fuel.  BEIRUT, Lebanon — An explosion struck a gas station in the Syrian capital, Damascus, early on Friday, killing at least 10 people in the second attack in three days on people lining up for scarce fuel.  A bomb struck the Qasioun gas station in the northeastern Damascus neighborhood of Barzeh, killing and wounding many people, the government news agency SANA reported. The news agency blamed terrorists, its shorthand for government opponents. A long video clip from the semiofficial news channel Al Ikhbariya showed what appeared to be 10 burned corpses near a row of gas containers while solemn, patriotic music played in the background.  Antigovernment activists said the explosion was caused by a bomb in a car or minibus, and they put the death toll at 9 to 11, adding that it could rise because many victims were in critical condition.  One activist in Damascus, who gave only a first name, Moaz, for safety reasons, said he believed that the government was behind the bombing in Barzeh and an explosion that killed at least 30 people on Wednesday at a gas station in Mleiha, an eastern suburb of Damascus. Both areas have been contested recently by rebels fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad.  Moaz said the attacks were reminiscent of a spate of airstrikes and artillery attacks on bakeries, which are among the few places that people congregate in war-torn cities, where bread is typically scarce.  “The people are being punished and disciplined, because the regime wants them to say again that Bashar is their master,” he said.  There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and it was unclear who was behind the bombing. Some rebel groups are increasingly using car bombs, and there has been a rise in the number of car bombs targeting civilians in neighborhoods that support the government and those that support rebels.  People in Damascus flock to gas stations not only to fuel cars, but also to fill up containers of gasoline and diesel fuel for generators and heaters.  Also on Friday, the Lebanese government signaled that it would be more involved in caring for the 180,000 Syrians who have fled to Lebanon since the uprising against Mr. Assad began 22 months ago, asking international donors for $180 million to assist them, Lebanese media reported. Refugees are a fraught issue because of deep divisions in Lebanon over the Syrian conflict and fears that refugees could upset Lebanon’s fragile sectarian balance.  The government has been discouraging refugees from settling permanently, refusing to open refugee camps and suspending its registration of refugees in 2011, leaving the task to the United Nations alone. On Friday, the government agreed to resume registering Syrian refugees, and rejected a proposal from a pro-Assad parliamentary faction to close its borders to them.  The decisions came one day after Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shiite militant party Hezbollah, which holds veto power in the Lebanese government, urged Lebanon to keep its borders open to refugees regardless of their political affiliation and to take a more prominent role in finding a solution to Syria’s civil war.  American troops began arriving in Turkey on Friday to operate the Patriot missiles supplied by the United States and two other NATO countries, the United States European Command said. Turkey, a NATO member, requested the missiles after Syria lobbed mortar shells across their shared border, killing several Turkish civilians. The missiles are expected to be in operation in a few weeks.  As efforts to reach a political solution appeared stalled, fighting continued around the country. The government reported that it pushed back a rebel assault on the Taftanaz air base in the north, a key helicopter base.  Reports of apparent summary executions by government forces continue to surface. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a rebel group that tracks the war from Britain, circulated two videos that it said were leaked from security forces. Their source could not be independently verified.  In one video, a soldier addresses his mother, appearing to suggest that he is killing a detainee in pre-emptive revenge in case a brother, perhaps serving in the army or missing, ends up dead: “I’m going to shoot a terrorist in case my brother Alaa doesn’t come back, Mom.”  After shooting the man, he continues: “Did you hear, mother? My brother Alaa and all the soldiers want Bashar al-Assad.”  Other voices then join him, saying this is the punishment of those who betray Mr. Assad.  Another video, circulated several days ago, shows men in uniform smiling at the camera near two prisoners standing against a wall with clothing over their heads. The men in uniform first slash the clothing of the prisoners, then stab them repeatedly as they groan and keel over.  Hania Mourtada contributed reporting from London.
An explosion in the Syrian capital early Friday added to fears that attackers were focusing on places where civilians congregate in order to inflict maximum casualties.