Explosion hits vicinity of military airport in Syrian capital

A powerful explosion believed to have been caused by a car bomb hit near a military airbase in the Syrian capital's western district of al-Mazzeh, activists and media reports said. The pro-government Sama TV said the perpetrators tried to target the al-Mazzeh military base, giving no further details. However, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blast was caused by a car bomb that ripped through a checkpoint near the airbase. Another activists group, the Local Coordination Committees, said that fire broke out inside the airbase following the blast. Yet, the activists' reports could not be verified with the absence of official media reports. According to Xinhua reporter in the area, the blast lit up the sky over al-Mazzeh before the big blast rattled windows along a distance of three kilometers. The airport is close to the troublesome suburbs of Daraya and Muadamieh where intense battles have been raging on between the Syrian troops and Western-backed rebels. The rebels charge that the airport is responsible for the bulk of airstrikes against Daraya and