Syrian ceasefire: Car bomb wounds 3, intelligence officer shot

A pool of blood is pictured next to a damaged car after a bomb exploded in Damascus in this handout released by Syria's national news agency SANA April 24, 2012. The car bomb wounded at least three people in the central Damascus district of Merjeh on Tuesday, a pro-government Syrian television channel said, blaming "armed terrorists". (Reuters Pictures)

(JPost) A car bomb wounded at least three people on Tuesday near Yelbagha complex in the central district of al-Marjeh in Damascus, the pro-government Syrian television channel (SANA) said. Reuters reported that the explosion was near an Iranian cultural center.

The SANA television channel blamed "armed terrorists."

A SANA reporter quoted a source in the Damascus Police that the explosive device was placed under a car. One of the injured in the explosion was the car driver.

In a separate incident near Damascus, SANA and opposition sources reported that an intelligence officer, Lieutenant Colonel As'aad Ahmad Ismael and his brother in Jedaydet al-Fadel, were killed.

Previously, the Syrian army had killed more than 20 people in Hama on Monday, activists said, shattering a week of relative quiet in the central city visited a day earlier by UN monitors laying the ground for a wider mission to oversee a shaky 11-day ceasefire.

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