A car bomb explosion in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Saturday morning left 17 people killed and 17 others wounded, according to the independent Syria-news website.

An earlier report of the state-owned Syrian TV said 17 people were killed and 14 others wounded in the attack.

The car, equipped with 200 kg of explosives, exploded at about 8:45 local time (0545 GMT) near the junction of Zeinab on the airport road in southern Damascus, the Syrian TV said.

All the victims were civilians, said the TV, adding that an anti-terrorism unit has launched investigation into the attack.

Security authorities cordoned off the site soon after the blast,said the Syria-news website, adding windows of houses up to 200 meters away from the scene were shattered by the explosion and that some people were wounded by flying glass.

Witnesses told Syria-news that thick smoke rose from the site and more than 15 ambulances rushed to the scene.

According to the official SANA news agency, the blast occurred on the Mahlaq road in southern Damascus in an area crowded with civilian passers-by.

Xinhua correspondents saw that all the major crossings leading to the airport road were closed and that traffic through the airport road was diverted.

Traffic jams were seen on roads connecting the airport road andthe city center, which was rare on a weekend morning.

It was the first explosion in the Syrian capital since Februarywhen Shiite militant group Hezbollah leader Imad Moughniyah was killed in a car bombing in a residential neighborhood of Damascus.

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2008)