A car bomb exploded near a Defense Ministry building in the Syrian capital on Tuesday, killing one soldier and wounding at least 18 people, authorities said.

Soldiers had discovered a different bomb near the building in the capital's Bab Sharqi district and ⁠were trying ⁠to dismantle it when the car bomb went off nearby, the Defense Ministry said in a statement carried by state media.

The ⁠head of Syria's ambulance and emergency directorate, Najib al-Nassan, told state-owned agency SANA that 18 injured people had been ⁠taken ‌to ‌hospitals after the ⁠explosion.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but such attacks in the past have been blamed on the Daesh terrorist group.

Daesh has claimed such attacks since the Assad family was removed from power after five decades of rule by anti-regime groups that marched into Damascus in December 2024.