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| Syria crisis: PM Halaqi 'survives Damascus car bombing' | Syria crisis: PM Halaqi 'survives Damascus car bombing' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi has survived a car bomb attack in the capital, Damascus, reports say. | Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi has survived a car bomb attack in the capital, Damascus, reports say. |
| The blast in western Mazzeh district targeted Mr Halaqi's convoy, state television said. There are reported to be a number of casualties. | |
| UK-based activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Mr Halaqi's bodyguard had been killed, AFP news agency reported. | UK-based activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Mr Halaqi's bodyguard had been killed, AFP news agency reported. |
| The blast is believed to have been a suicide attack. | |
| Syrian state television said the explosion happened at a busy intersection. A picture which activists said was of the scene after the attack showed a large plume of black smoke rising into the air near a road and a high-rise building. | |
| Activist groups said a bus and a car had been set on fire. | |
| Mezzeh is a government-controlled quarter housing a military airport which is vital to the regime's defences. | |
| Syrian forces and rebels have been fighting around Damascus for months but with neither side gaining an upper hand. | |
| Monday's attack is the latest bombing inside government-controlled areas. | |
| Late last year there was a suicide bomb attack on the interior ministry. The state media said top officials had escaped unhurt, but it later emerged that the minister himself had been badly injured. |