DAMASCUS/BEIRUT: A car bomb killed 27 people and wounded 64 in a northern district of Aleppo, according to state-run media, ahead of peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi’s arrival in Syria to try to broker an elusive peace in the crisis-wracked country.
 
The latest violence also came as Moscow and Washington aired their differences in a frank admission of the diplomatic standoff over Syria.
 
SANA news agency said “terrorists” were responsible for a booby-trapped a car which exploded outside the Al-Hayat and Central Hospitals.
 
State-run TV aired footage that showed destroyed buildings and rescue workers trying to pull people from the rubble.
 
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Al-Qaeda-style suicide bombings have become increasingly common in Syria, and Western officials say there is little doubt that Islamist extremists have joined the opposition Free Syrian Army fighting to oust President Bashar Assad.
 
Meanwhile, troops shelled several districts of the northern city of Aleppo and clashed with rebels as other regions were bombarded in violence that killed at least 88 people, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
 
The watchdog said at least two people were killed when mortar rounds struck a residential building as fighting raged in the Hanano district of Aleppo, where troops Saturday repelled an offensive by rebels seeking control of an army barracks.
 
Fierce clashes also shook the outskirts of Midan, as rebels entrenched in the nearby Bustan al-Basha stronghold tried to seize the neighborhood controlled by regime forces.
 
“The bombardment of Bustan al-Basha has stopped but could start up again any time,” one resident told AFP.
 
A main water pipe was destroyed, either by airstrikes or fighting, and residents reported water shortages.
 
Observatory chief Rami Abdel-Rahman said the overall death toll from 18 months of violence in Syria has now risen to more than 27,000.
 
A bomb targeting a bus carrying civilians and soldiers killed four people and wounded dozens in central Syria, the Observatory said.
 
Activists said troops also reportedly entered the Palestinian camp of Yarmouk in the capital, Damascus, where thousands of people fleeing an army bombardment in nearby Tadamon and Al-Hajar al-Aswad were seeking refuge.
 
Brahimi, who has said he is “scared” of the task facing him, arrived in Cairo ahead of talks Monday with Arab League officials, Egypt’s President Mohammad Mursi and other leaders as he finalizes plans for his visit to Damascus.
 
His spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said the date of Brahimi’s visit to Syria will be scheduled once the final details of his program are set.
 
The veteran troubleshooter succeeds ex-U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, who quit in frustration at United Nations Security Council divisions on the conflict. He has described the bloodshed as “staggering” and the destruction as “catastrophic.”
 
Brahimi wants guarantees he will get a proper meeting with Assad before he goes to Damascus, diplomats said, but with no signs of the violence ending, expectations are low he will have any more success than Annan.
 
Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted an official as saying Brahimi was also contemplating visiting Iran – Syria’s diehard ally – after Damascus.
 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday that a new Security Council resolution on Syria would be pointless if it had “no teeth,” because Assad would just ignore it.
 
Speaking in Russia, Clinton said she was willing to work with Moscow on a new resolution, but warned Washington would step up support to end Assad’s regime if the measure did not carry consequences.
 
“There is no point to passing a resolution with no teeth because we’ve seen time and time again that Assad will ignore it and keep attacking his own people.”
 
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday after meeting Clinton that he hoped to seek Security Council approval for a peace plan agreed in June in Geneva that called for a cease-fire and political transition.
 
Clinton said she hoped for progress but was “realistic” over U.S. differences with Russia on Syria.
 
If those differences persist, “then we will work with like-minded states to support a Syrian opposition to hasten the day when Assad falls,” she said.
 
Washington has said it is providing non-lethal assistance to the opposition in Syria.