On 6 January 2012 , the head of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria warned that the government was plotting a bombing in the city , " just to terrorize the people " . Ammar Qurabi told Al Arabiya that he had learned about the alleged plot from Syrian security officials . This came after bombings in Damascus in December 2011 and in January 2012 . Qurabi and other opposition groups accused the government of staging those attacks to justify its crackdown on the uprising
in December 2011
2011 Damascus bombings
2012 Aleppo Governorate clashes