Rocket attack in Syria’s capital wounds 1 person and causes damage

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Rockets were fired at a home in Syria’s capital on Friday night, wounding several people and causing damage, state media reported.

It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind the rocket attack in Damascus’ western neighborhood of Mazzeh 86.

The Syrian defense ministry said in a statement that two Katyusha rockets were launched from the outskirts of the city toward residential neighborhoods in the Mazzeh area and that it was searching for the launch sites.

An Associated Press journalist at the scene said that security forces cordoned off the area and prevented anyone from getting close to the building that was struck. Journalists were later allowed in to film the damaged building.

State television reported that one woman was wounded in the blast, which was caused by an attack by “unknown assailants,” adding that security forces were investigating. The defense ministry statement later said that “a number of people” were injured without giving more details.

During Syria’s 14-year civil war, explosions and bombings in Damascus were not uncommon, but since the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government in December last year by insurgents who took over his seat of power, calm has largely prevailed.

A rocket attack in the capital is highly unusual.

There have been other attacks since Assad’s fall however, including a suicide bombing that targeted a church on the outskirts of Damascus in June.

Israel has also carried out hundreds of airstrikes around the country since the end of the 54-year Assad dynasty, mainly targeting assets of the Syrian army, although it has not struck the capital in recent months.