DAMASCUS—A car bomb exploded in the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday, killing 17 civilians in the third significant attack in the tightly-controlled country this year.
The Interior Minister described the bombing, near a security center on the road to the city's airport, as a terrorist attack.
State television said the car was rigged with 200 kgs (440 pounds) of explosives, making it one of the biggest attacks in Damascus since a series of bombings in the early 1980s by Islamist militants.
There was no indication of who might have carried it out.
"This is definitely a terrorism attack that occurred in a crowded area. This is a cowardly attack," Interior Minister General Bassam Abdel Majeed told state television.
The blast occurred at a crowded intersection leading to the Sit Zeinab shrine, popular with Shi'ite pilgrims from Iran and Lebanon.
Security forces cordoned off the area but witnesses said the security centre's main building appeared to have suffered little damage.
Television showed smashed car windshields and shattered windows in nearby residential buildings. Some industrial buildings about 100 metres away were also damaged and the remains of the destroyed car were strewn on the highway, witnesses said.
Challenge to Syrian authorities
Syrian authorities pride themselves on maintaining stability in the country of 19 million people but their control has been challenged by a series of recent violent events.
The attack was the first explosion in Damascus since the car bomb assassination of Imad Moughniyah, military commander of the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah, in February. Hezbollah blames Israel for that attack although Israel denies it.
Last month, a senior security officer who was the International Atomic Energy Agency's main Syrian contact was shot dead by a sniper at a beach resort near the port of Tartous in mysterious circumstances.
Syria has been ruled by the Baath party since it took power in a coup in 1963 and banned all opposition. The security apparatus is key to Syria's support for Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel in 2006 and wields huge influence on government.
The country is also home to the Palestinian Islamist group's Hamas leadership and is under pressure to scale back links with the group, Iran, and Hezbollah in recent indirect peace talk rounds with Israel.
The U.S.-backed Iraqi government is also pushing Damascus to stop anti-U.S. rebels from infiltrating over the border.
The blast occurred as Syria is emerging from international isolation due to its peace talks with Israel and cooperation on Lebanon.
This month French President Nicolas Sarkozy became the first Western head of state to pay an official visit to Syria since the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
French officials believed the attack was orchestrated from Syria, the former military power in neighbouring Lebanon.
