BEIRUT, Jan 20 (Agencies): A "huge explosion" near a military intelligence office in Damascus on Sunday left a number of dead and wounded, a war monitor said, after state TV reported early indications suggested a "terrorist act".
"The explosion took place near a security branch in the south of the city. There are some people killed and injured but we could not verify the toll immediately," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP.
It was unclear if the blast was caused by a bomb that was planted or a suicide attack, according to the monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside the country.
It said that shooting followed the explosion.
Syrian state television earlier reported that a blast had been heard around the southern highway in Damascus.
"First reports suggest a terrorist act," the broadcaster said.
The state outlet did not provide any more details on the incident.
Government media subsequently stopped reporting on the blast.
Meanwhile, Syrian military air defences thwarted an Israeli attack on Sunday, shooting down several missiles in the south of the country, state media said.
"Our air defence systems thwarted ... an Israeli air aggression ... and prevented it from achieving any of its goals," a military source told state news agency SANA. It gave no further details.
An Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment on the report.
Shortly after the incident, Israel's military said its Iron Dome missile defence system shot down a rocket that had been fired at the northern part of the occupied Golan Heights on the Syria frontier on Sunday.
The military statement did not specify where the rocket had been launched from. The northern Golan is also close to Lebanese territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged an Israeli attack last week on what he called an Iranian arms cache in Syria, where Tehran provides Damascus with vital support.
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