3 car bombs hit Damascus, at least 7 killed

Children look at the wreckage of vehicles at a blast site in the Baytara traffic circle near the Old City of Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

A man operates a front loader to clean a blast site in the Baytara traffic circle near the Old City of Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

People inspect the damage at the site of a suicide attack in Tahrir Square, in central Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi

A general view shows the damage at one of the blast sites in Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

A damaged truck is pictured at one of the blast sites in Damascus in this handout picture posted on SANA on July 2, 2017, Syria. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

Damaged cars are seen at one of the blast sites in Damascus in this handout picture posted on SANA on July 2, 2017, Syria. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

People inspect the site of a car bomb blast in Damascus in this handout picture posted on SANA on July 2, 2017, Syria. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

People inspect the damage at the site of a suicide attack in Tahrir Square, in central Damascus, Syria July 2, 2017. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi

Three car bombs exploded in Damascus on Sunday, state media said, killing at least seven people in the first suicide bombings in the Syrian capital since extremists attacked in March.

Security forces stopped the militants from reaching their targets which would have led to more deaths, officials told state TV, saying the bombers had aimed to hit busy areas on the first day back to work after the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Damascus was hit by two separate, multiple suicide bomb attacks in March, one of them claimed by Daesh and the other by the extremist insurgent alliance Tahrir al-Sham.

The casualties in Sunday’s attack occurred when one of bombers set off his device after being encircled near the Old City district of Bab Touma. A police officer at the scene said seven people were killed and 13 wounded in that attack.

The other two car bombs were destroyed by the authorities, state media said.

Damascus chief of police Mohamad Kheir Ismail, in a phone interview with the al-Ikhbariya TV station, said the cars had been spotted on a highway and pursued. He said they had wanted to cause a large casualty toll but failed.

Footage broadcast by state TV from the blast that caused the fatalities near the Old City showed roads scattered with debris, several badly damaged cars, and another one that had been turned into a pile of twisted metal.

Footage from another of the blast sites showed what appeared to be the remains of a person and badly damaged vehicles outside a mosque in the Baytara traffic circle near the Old City.

Syrian government forces, which have defeated rebel fighters in several suburbs of Damascus over the last year, are currently battling insurgents in the Jobar and Ain Tarma areas on the capital’s eastern outskirts.