Blast in Damascus kills over a dozen, Syrian media

A car bomb explosion has hit the Syrian capital Damascus, leaving at least 13 people dead and 70 more injured, Syrian media report.

The bomb went off near the Syrian Interior Ministry in the central district of al-Marjeh on Tuesday, the Syrian media said.

On Monday, twin car bombings rocked the al-Mazzeh neighborhood of the capital. The attack targeted the convoy of Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi.

The premier survived the attack but three of his bodyguards as well as the driver of the vehicle were killed in the blasts.

Similar car bomb attack killed Mohammad Abdul-Wahab Hassan, a senior official at Syria’s Electricity Ministry, on April 24.

On April 23, gunmen carried out another car bomb attack in Damascus, but no casualties were reported. The blast caused material damage to a number of nearby vehicles.

A day earlier, a bomb explosion hit the town of al-Mleiha near Damascus, injuring many people. The attacks reportedly targeted a Syrian military checkpoint.

Syria has been gripped by a deadly unrest since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of government security forces and army personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.