Damascus suicide bombings kill dozens, Syrian TV reports

The double blasts are the latest in a spate of attacks in Syria's capital city.

ByABC News
March 15, 2017, 10:03 AM

— -- A bomb blast ripped through the main judicial building in Syria's capital city today, killing dozens, according to various media reports.

Syria's state-owned television reported that at least 25 people were killed and many others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest inside the "old building" of the Palace of Justice in central Damascus, not far from the famous and crowded Souq al-Hamidiyah market.

Soon after, state media reported a second suicide bomber detonated a device at a restaurant in the city's Rabweh district, killing several people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the death toll from the first attack to be at least 39, including 24 civilians and seven police officers and guards. It’s unclear whether the remaining eight casualties were civilians, the U.K.-based monitoring group said.

Today's double blasts are the latest in a string of bombings and suicide attacks targeting government-controlled areas of Syria.

Twin bombings also killed at least 40 people in Damascus Saturday. That attack was claimed by Syria's al-Qaeda branch, formerly known as the Nusra Front.

ABC News' Alexander Marquardt, Lena Masri and Marcus Wilford contributed to this story, which was supplemented with Associated Press reporting.

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