The car bomb, which Syrian public television said contained about 200kg of explosives, detonated in a southern suburb of the capital at about 8am [0500 GMT] on Saturday.

The bomb exploded close to a security post in the Sidi Qada district near the airport road, Abdul Hameed Tawfiq, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Damascus reported, with all of the victims believed to be civilians.


The area where the bomb detonated is a heavily-populated area of Damascus, he said.

Investigation under way

Security forces have sealed off the site of the blast and an investigation has been launched by counter-terrorism officers, he said.

No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bombing is the most deadly single attack to have ever hit Syria, Tawfiq said.

The attack comes days after authorities from Lebanon said that Syria had sent security forces to the international border between the two neighbours.

Damascus said the deployment was made for internal security reasons.


Al Jazeera and agencies