Syrian state TV says prime minister has escaped assassination attempt in Damascus

State-run Syrian TV says the country's prime minister has escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb went off near his convoy.

The TV says Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was unhurt in the attack in the capital's western neighbourhood of Mazzeh. The TV said Monday's bombing left a number of casualties.

The attack was not the first targeting a high official in the Syrian capital.

On July 18, a blast at the Syrian national security building in Damascus during a meeting of Cabinet ministers killed the defence minister and his deputy, who was President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law. That attack also wounded the interior minister.