A blast near Syria’s interior ministry has rocked the central Damascus district of Marjeh killing 13 people and injuring over 70 others, state television said, just a day after the country’s prime minister survived a car bomb attack.
“Terrorist explosion in Marjeh district of Damascus and preliminary information on casualties,” state television reported on Tuesday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a lower toll, saying nine people were killed in the blast.
The group, which relies on a network of activists based in Syria, did not immediately provide details on those reported casualties, but warned that the number of casualties was expected to rise.
Sharif Shehadeh, a Syrian member of parliament, told Al Jazeera “terrorism sponsored by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United States” was harming “innocent civilians”.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey have been at the forefront of backing Syrian armed opposition while the United Sates has provided “nonlethal aid” to groups fighting Bashar al Assad’s regime.
Regarding whether the recent bomb attacks are a response to the government counter-offensive on rebel strongholds, Shehadeh said: “The Syrian army is doing [an] excellent job in the Damascus suburbs and [the] countryside, as they have directed a big blow to the terrorists in many of the areas they are based in. The Syrian army and state is closing in on them day after day.”
