Civilian killed in Damascus car bomb: Syrian state media

A civilian was killed Monday when a car bomb exploded in Damascus, state media reported, the latest in a spate of similar attacks to hit the Syrian capital in recent months.

Photos from state news agency SANA showed the white car, charred by the explosion in the southern Damascus neighbourhood of Qadam.

"One civilian was killed when an IED planted in a car went off," SANA reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack targeted a senior official in the National Defence Forces, a pro-regime militia.

The official's driver was the victim of the blast, according to the Britain-based monitor.

Bomb attacks have increased in recent months in Damascus and other regions under government control.

Pro-regime political analyst Taleb Ibrahim was the target of a car bomb attack last month that wounded his wife and son, according to SANA.

That followed a civilian being killed and five others wounded in an April car bomb blast on a highway south of Damascus, according to the news agency.

After Syria's war broke out in 2011, Damascus was hit by several deadly attacks carried out mainly by jihadist groups.

But the frequency of attacks decreased after regime forces recaptured environs of the capital held by rebels or jihadists last year, notably the former rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta.

More than 370,000 people have been killed and several millions displaced since Syria's war broke out with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.