8 killed, 25 wounded in two blasts near Damascus

By Halit Suleyman

DAMASCUS (AA) – Twin blasts in a Damascus suburb have killed eight people and injured 25 others on Saturday, according to the Syrian official news agency (SANA).

The agency reported that the first attack was by a suicide bomber near a check point in al-Sayyida Zeinab district, south of capital Damascus, and the second was a car bomb in the same area.

The Syrian regime-controlled area is part of the Damascus countryside and hosts the Shia-revered shrine of Zeinab, the daughter of Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was the cousin of Islam's Prophet Muhammad and the fourth leader (caliph) of Muslims after Muhammad's death.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Lebanese militia Hezbollah, who both support the Syrian regime, also have heavy presence in the area which has been targeted several times this year by attacks that have killed more than 150 people.

*Ali Abo Rezig contributed to this report from Ankara.