BEIRUT: Syria's state news agency says a car bomb explosion in southwest Damascus has killed at least five people and injured 15 others.
The car bomb was detonated Sunday outside Sasa, a village in rural Damascus. Opposition activists said al-Qaida-linked group Fatah al-Sham Front carried out the suicide attack against a security checkpoint. The state news agency didn't identify those killed, but said the injured included women and children.
Despite a nationwide cease-fire declared on Dec. 30, opposition-held areas around the Syrian capital have seen little reprieve from fighting.
Talks for a local truce in the Barada Valley in northwestern Damascus have collapsed. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah announced the resumption of military operations in the area after a 24-hour halt to allow for talks. Hezbollah fights alongside Syrian government troops.
