On 6 January 2012, a bomb exploded in the Al-Midan district of Damascus, Syria. According to the Syrian government, a suicide bomber attacked buses carrying riot police shortly before an anti-government protest was to begin. It said that 26 people were killed and over 60 were injured. Most of the victims were civilians, though the Syrian government showed footage of what it claimed to be the funeral of 11 police officers killed in the attack.It was the second such bombing since an uprising against the government began in early 2011. Two weeks earlier, a double car bombing in Damascus had killed 44 people. The government blamed that attack and the 6 January attack on al Qaeda. However, the Syrian opposition accused the government of staging the attacks to justify its crackdown on the uprising. Later, the newly formed Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant claimed responsibility in a video.