BEIRUT — Twin car bombs struck intelligence and security buildings Saturday in the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing at least 27 people and wounding nearly 100, according to state media.

State TV, citing the health minister, said the death toll could rise. Gruesome images were aired, with mangled and charred corpses, bloodstained streets and twisted steel.

The blasts were the latest in a string of mysterious, large-scale attacks targeting the Syrian regime’s military and security installations. The previous blasts, all suicide bombings, have killed dozens of people since December, even as the regime wages a bloody crackdown on the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

The government has blamed the explosions on the “terrorists” that it claims are behind the revolt. The opposition has denied any role, saying they believe forces loyal to the government are behind the bombings to tarnish the uprising.

But top U.S. intelligence officials also have pointed to al-Qaida in Iraq as the likely culprit, raising the possibility its fighters are infiltrating across the border to take advantage of the turmoil.