Syrian media: Car bomb in Damascus countryside kill 5

Syria's state news agency says a car bomb explosion in southwest Damascus has killed at least five people and injured 15 others.

The car bomb was detonated today outside Sasa, a village in rural Damascus. Opposition activists said al-Qaida-linked group Fatah al-Sham Front carried out the suicide attack against a security checkpoint.

The state news agency didn't identify those killed, but said the injured included women and children.

Despite a nationwide cease-fire declared on December 30, opposition-held areas around the Syrian capital have seen little reprieve from fighting.

Talks for a local truce in the Barada Valley in northwestern Damascus have collapsed.
 

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah announced the resumption of military operations in the area after a 24-hour halt to allow for talks. Hezbollah fights alongside Syrian government troops.