Car bomb rocks Syrian capital, killing 20

A car bomb in Damascus killed 20 people on Sunday and wounded dozens more, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a letter to the United Nations secretary general and the chair of the UN Security Council, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

The car bomb went off in the Bab Touma district of the capital. Syrian officials said it was one of three car bombs militants had meant to set off in crowded parts of the city on Sunday. Security forces pursued and destroyed the other two before they entered the city.

• At least 15 dead in cluster bomb attack in eastern Syria

Damascus Governor Bashr al-Sabban said earlier Sunday that two attackers were stopped before rush hour at security checkpoints on the airport road at the entrance to the city, where forces "dealt with them," without elaborating. He said the attackers were heading to the city centre where they hoped to cause maximum damage.

The Syrian Minister of Local Administration, Hussein Makhlouf, said the response marked a "major success in foiling a plot" to cause mass casualties.

Syrian state TV reported the toll, without saying whether those killed and wounded were security forces or civilians. The attack came on the first full work day after the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Such attacks have been relatively rare in Damascus, the seat of power for President Bashar al-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.

New bank note with Assad's face

The country also issued a new 2,000 Syrian lira ($5.06 Cdn) bank note Sunday with the face of Assad on it. 

Central Bank Governor Duraid Durgham said the new bank notes will go into circulation starting Sunday "due to the wear and tear" affecting currency now in circulation.

Syria's currency has crashed as the country's seven-year-long war rages on. Trading at 47 liras to the U.S. dollar in 2011, it's currently going for 517 liras to the dollar.

Inflation has also soared, reaching an all-time high in 2013, at over 120 per cent. Estimates in 2016 put the inflation rate at 50 per cent.

Heavy fighting not as common in centre of Damascus

Pro-government forces have engaged in heavy fighting in Damascus' suburbs during the war, but have largely kept the rebels out of the city centre. In recent days, Syrian troops and allied forces have been fighting to drive the rebels out of Ain Terma and adjacent Jobar, on the city's eastern outskirts, areas controlled by insurgents since the start of the conflict in 2011.

Footage on state TV from the scene of one explosion, along the road to the airport, showed at least two scorched vehicles. The closed-off street was littered with debris, while security men roamed the area. Footage from near Tahreer Square in central Damascus showed the facade of one building badly damaged, and mangled vehicles parked in the small roundabout.

The attacks come days before Russian-sponsored talks are to resume in the Kazakh capital, Astana, where the two sides agreed to a cease-fire earlier this year that has been repeatedly violated. The new round of talks is expected to delineate "de-escalation zones." Russian officials said the talks are also to discuss the formation of a Syrian national reconciliation committee.