Deadly explosion reported in Damascus area

State television says the explosion appears to have been an act of terror.

By David Jablinowitz, World Israel News

Syrian state TV reported that an explosion had taken place on Sunday morning in the area of the capital city, Damascus. Al Arabiya, a pan-Arab television news channel, said the blast was in Motahalik al-Janobi, south of the Syrian capital.

State TV said that “first reports suggest a terrorist act.” It was said to have happened during rush hour on the first working day of the week.

“The explosion took place near a security branch in the south of the city. There are some people killed and injured but we could not verify the toll immediately,” the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told the AFP news agency.

State media said all roads leading to the scene of the blast were closed. Al-Motahalik al-Janobi is the location of one of Syria’s largest highways. It is also known as the Southern Bypass.

Such explosions reportedly have left hundreds of people dead during the nearly eight years of the war in Syria, but have become rare in Damascus since Syrian government forces captured the last rebel-held neighborhoods and suburbs of the capital last year.