A car bomb killed eight people near the holy shrine of Sayyeda Zeinab (as), south of the Syrian capital Damascus, on Monday.

 

A car bomb killed eight people near the holy shrine of Sayyeda Zeinab (as), south of the Syrian capital Damascus, on Monday.

The bomb struck Al-Diyabiyah, a town that serves as one of the gateways for the many pilgrims from around the world who visit the Shiite holy site.

Another 20 people were wounded, state news agency SANA reported.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the attack and the same death toll.

The shrine contains the grave of  Sayyeda Zeinab (as), the sister of Imam Hussein (as).

The bomb struck a checkpoint near a construction site and left a small crater in the pavement, an AFP correspondent reported.

One of the guards manning the checkpoint told AFP his bomb detector began beeping when a suspicious pickup truck pulled up.

"We stopped the car at the checkpoint... When we began doing a manual search, they detonated the car. My colleagues were killed," he said.

The windows of a small hotel across from the checkpoint had been shattered by the force of the blast.