Eighteen soldiers were killed and 20 wounded when an explosive device detonated on a military bus in the Damascus countryside on Thursday, local outlet Sham FM reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group that counts casualties and covers military developments in the 11-year conflict, said that 17 soldiers were killed in the blast.
Security incidents have been on the rise around Damascus and other parts of Syria controlled by the government. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
A similar explosion in February left one Syrian army soldier dead.
Nearly one year ago, a blast killed 14 soldiers near Jisr al-Raes in the capital’s city centre.
According to the observatory, more than 91,000 government soldiers have been killed since the start of the war, as well as around 67,000 pro-Assad militia fighters.
Syria’s civil war has left hundreds of thousands of people dead and driven millions from their homes, since starting in 2011 with a brutal crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad on anti-government protests.
The vast majority of civilians – more than 300,000 according to a June 2022 UN report – have been killed by pro-Assad forces. (MEE)
