A suicide car bomber pursued by security forces blew himself up in eastern Damascus on Sunday, with a monitor reporting 18 killed in the deadliest attack to hit the Syrian capital in months. Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said security forces intercepted three car bombers on their way into the city early on Sunday morning. A third managed to reach the eastern Tahrir Square district, where he was surrounded but able to detonate a bomb. The Observatory, a Britain-based monitor, said 18 people were killed in the bombing, including at least seven members of pro-regime security forces and two civilians. In mid-March, bomb attacks on a courthouse and restaurant in central Damascus killed 32 people.

Source: Hindustan Times July 02, 2017 06:25 UTC