DAMASCUS: A car bomb driven by a suicide attacker exploded Tuesday near a police officers’ club in the Syrian capital Damascus, killing at least 10 people and causing wide-spread material damage, state media said.

The state-run SANA news agency said the blast occurred near a vegetable market in the northern neighborhood of Masaken Barzeh.

SANA showed footage of the blast scene, including several damaged vehicles and one burnt-out car.

A source in the interior ministry stated that a car had tried to ram into the police officer’s club in the area, but was stopped by guards.

“A suicide bomber then detonated his explosives, causing deaths and injuries,” state television added, citing the source, without giving further details on the toll.

The club and the market are next to one another.

State TV said the blast killed at least eight policemen and wounded 20 after it was detonated in the parking lot of the officers’ club.

Car bombs have been used regularly in Syria’s war, often to devastating effect.

While the capital has been largely spared, a multiple bomb attack near the Syeda Zainab shrine outside the city killed at least 71 people last month.

Syrian troops have been on the offensive in the northern province of Aleppo under the cover of Russian airstrikes in recent weeks and have encircled rebel-held parts of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and once a commercial center.

Last week, Syrian troops and their allies were able to lift a three-year siege imposed on the Shia villages of Nubul and Zahra in Aleppo province.