Dozens die as five blasts devastate Syria's largest city

[NewsCaster]

A series of suicide bombings in Syria's largest city has killed at least 31 people. State TV reports that three explosions rocked a government-controlled district in Aleppo. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.By NBC News staff and wire reportsUpdated at 8:21 a.m. ET: Four explosions ripped through a government-controlled district of Syrian’s largest city early Wednesday, causing widespread destruction and killing at least 40 people, according to activists.

The blasts in Aleppo, which came within minutes of each other, struck the main Saadallah al-Jabiri Square close to a military officers' club and a fifth bomb exploded a few hundred meters away, state television said.

The carnage took place on the fringes of the Old City where rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar Assad have been fighting.

"Five minutes after the first explosion a second bomb exploded. A third exploded ten minutes after that," a state television reporter said. "There was a fourth car bomb which exploded before engineering units could defuse it."

NBCNews