Photo: Reuters
Syrian state media reported a car explosion on Monday in the Mazzeh district of Damascus, a neighborhood known for its embassies and security headquarters. The official SANA news agency mentioned "a car explosion in one of the neighborhoods" of Mazzeh, where an AFP correspondent observed damage to a hotel and vehicles set ablaze following the blast near the Syrian Information Ministry. Ambulances swiftly arrived at the scene, where crowds gathered around the wrecked four-wheel drive, now reduced to scraps of metal, according to the correspondent.
Reuters reported that Syrian state media confirmed at least one person was killed in the attack. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported at least one fatality. Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman could not confirm the cause of the blast but suggested it was likely the result of an air strike. The Mazzeh neighborhood, which houses United Nations offices, has recently been a target of strikes attributed to Israel.
Earlier this month, the Syrian government reported that seven civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a residential and commercial building in Mazzeh. The Observatory provided a higher death toll of nine, including five civilians, one of whom was a child. The attack reportedly targeted a building used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon's Hezbollah. Israeli authorities rarely comment on individual strikes in Syria but have consistently stated that they will not permit Iran to expand its presence.
Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah have been among the Syrian government's most crucial allies in the country's civil war, which began in 2011.
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