Syrian capital struck by suicide blast

DAMASCUS, Syria — Security forces chased three explosive-laden vehicles through Damascus on Sunday, intercepting two of them but failing to stop the third before it exploded in the city center, killing at least eight people in a rare attack in the heart of Syria’s capital, state media and others reported.

The Interior Ministry said security forces tracked all three cars and intercepted two of them at checkpoints on the airport road.

[...] the Hezbollah-linked Lebanon’s al-Manar TV, which is close to the Syrian government, and Diary of a Mortar, a Syrian activist group in the capital, said 19 people were killed.

[...] attacks have been relatively rare in Damascus, the seat of power for President Bashar Assad, who made a series of public appearances last week in a show of increased confidence after more than six years of battling a rebellion.

In recent days, Syrian troops and allied forces have been fighting to drive the rebels out of Ain Terma and Jobar, adjacent areas on the city’s outskirts that have been under rebel control since 2011.