A suicide car bomber blew himself up at a police officers' club in a residential district of Damascus on Tuesday, killing several people, Syria's interior ministry said.
It said a number of people were also wounded in the blast in Masaken Barza, a middle class district where several major government buildings are located.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks violence across the country, said eight police officers were killed in the blast and at least 20 wounded after a vehicle was detonated in a parking lot in the police officers' club.
The interior ministry said in a statement that security forces prevented the suicide bomber from entering the heavily patrolled complex and that the blast took place at its gates.