Car bomb kills 10, wounds 62 in Damascus

A powerful car bomb exploded in a suburb of the Syrian capital on Thursday, killing 10 people and wounding dozens of others, Syria's state-run news agency said.

The explosion in Jaramana, just few kilometres southeast of Damascus, came as the United Nations' top official said more than 100,000 people have been killed in the ongoing civil war gripping Syria.

The state news agency SANA reported that the explosion caused heavy damage to nearby buildings and destroyed many cars. It said 62 people were wounded.

Jaramana, a neighborhood that overwhelmingly supports the government of President Bashar Assad, has been targeted by a series of explosions before. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-government activist organization, said the blast killed seven and wounded more than 30. It said the blast caused heavy material damage and started a fire.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.

More than 100,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict started in March 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling for a political solution to end the conflict. So far, however, the violence in Syria has defied all international attempts for a political solution.

The conflict began largely as peaceful protests against Assad's rule. It escalated into a civil war after opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown on dissent.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government today lashed out at the US decision to send arms to rebels fighting troops loyal to Assad, saying Washington is unsuitable to act as a broker at any peace negotiations in Geneva.

"The American intensions seek to continue the cycle of violence and terrorism in Syria in order to destabilize security and stability in the region," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The US government opposed providing any lethal assistance to Syria's rebels until last month, but is moving ahead now with sending weapons to vetted rebels after securing the approval of the House and Senate Intelligence committees.

The White House acknowledged that momentum in the conflict has shifted as the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group and Iran have helped Assad's forces.

President Barack Obama and his national security team still have yet to say publicly what weapons they'll provide the Syrian opposition and when they'll deliver them. There has also been concern in the West that US weapons could end up in the hands of al-Qaida-linked groups.