DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — State-run Syrian TV says at least 15 people have been killed in a suicide car bombing in central Damascus.
It says more than 50 others were hurt in the blast, which rocked a busy residential and commercial district and sent a huge cloud of black smoke billowing over the capital’s skyline.
The explosion came as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon (bahn kee-moon) said inspectors were ready to deploy within 24 hours to Syria to investigate reports of chemical weapon attacks but have not yet received permission from President Bashar Assad’s government.
It was the latest in a series of car bombs and suicide bombings to hit the Syrian capital in recent months as the two-year civil war becomes increasingly chaotic. The U.N. says the conflict has killed more than 70,000 people.
