At least 13 people have been killed after an explosion destroyed a bus in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

A local television station said two explosive devices went off as the bus was on the Hafez al Assad bridge – and a third device was being defused by an army engineering unit.

At least three other people have been wounded, in what officials have called a “terrorist” blast, the TV channel reported.

Syrian state TV showed footage of the charred bus and said the blasts occurred during rush hour when people were heading to work and school.

Such attacks in Damascus have been rare in recent years after government forces captured suburbs that were once held by insurgents.

Since the country’s civil war began in March 2011, the United Nations says at least 350,000 people have been killed.

The war has also left more than half of the country’s population displaced, including five million who are refugees abroad.

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