CAR BOMB KILLS 17 IN DAMASCUS

A car bomb exploded near a Shiite shrine in southern Damascus on September 27, killing 17 people and wounding 14 others in one of the deadliest attacks to hit Syria in over a decade. The car packed with 200 kilos (440 pounds) of explosives blew up near a security checkpoint on a road to Damascus airport in what Interior Minister General Bassam Abdel Majid told state television was “a terrorist act.” All the casualties were civilians, he said. “A counter-terrorist unit is trying to track down the perpetrators... We can’t point the finger at any party.” The rare attack in a country known for its iron-fisted security came during the morning rush-hour in the teeming neighbourhood of Sayeda Zeinab, the state-run SANA news agency said, quoting a Syrian official.