At least 29 people have been killed and many injured by two car bomb explosions in a south-eastern district of Syria’s capital, Damascus, activists say.
The Sana news agency said “terrorists” were behind the blasts in Jaramana.
Television pictures showed firemen hosing down the charred wrecks of two vehicles. Several buildings also appeared to have been damaged.
A BBC reporter in Jaramana says there were clashes between government forces and rebels there earlier on Wednesday.
There has been fierce fighting in recent days in the countryside around Damascus, known as the Ghouta, particularly in eastern areas.
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The pro-government TV channel, Addounia, said the explosions occurred shortly after 06:40 (04:40 GMT).
“Terrorists blew up two car bombs filled with a large amount of explosives in the main square of the town,” the official Sana news agency reported.
Several residents were killed and wounded, and homes and shops were damaged, it added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group, said 29 people had died and dozens had been injured. Addounia also quoted a reporter at the scene as saying the death toll was 20.
Two smaller bombs also exploded in Jaramana at around the same time, Sana said, adding that nobody was killed by the blasts.
Jaramana is a predominantly Druze and Christian district, where supporters of the government have reportedly set up armed groups to repel rebel attacks.
On 29 October, 11 people were killed in a car bombing in Jaramana.
The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an opposition activist network, said 48 people were killed in the capital and its suburbs on Tuesday. It put the nationwide death toll at 131, including 12 children.
The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) overran an air force base in the Sayyida Zainab area, to the south of Damascus, and fought off several attempts by security forces to storm several suburbs, the LCC added.
Activists estimate that more than 40,000 people have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.
