A ten-year-old was killed and four other children were wounded when an explosive device went off in the northern Aleppo province, Syria's second largest city and economic powerhouse that remained relatively peaceful during the one-year-old domestic unrest.

Syria's private media said the blast in the Bustan al-Basha area was a work of some "armed groups" and a 55-year-old man was also among the injured, while official account of the incident is not immediately available.

On Feb. 10, a total of 25 people were killed and other 175 were wounded in twin bombings targeting security and law-enforcement bases in Aleppo, marking the first significant violence in the city that has stood largely by the rule of President Bashar al- Assad.

The Syrian government has accused some Arab and Western countries of providing weapons and financial support to the armed groups in Syria. It said in December 2011 that "armed terrorist groups" had killed more than 2,000 army and security personnel during the unrest, while the United Nations said recently that over 7,500 people have died in Syria's violence.