One Syrian soldier was ​killed and at least 18 people were wounded by a car ​bomb ‌that exploded on Tuesday ⁠outside a defence ministry building ‌in Damascus, authorities said. Soldiers had discovered ⁠a different bomb near the building in the capital's ​Bab Sharqi district ‌and were trying to dismantle it when the car bomb ‌went off nearby, the ministry said ​in a statement carried by state media. The head of Syria's ​ambulance and emergency directorate, Najib ​al-Nassan, told state-owned ​agency SANA that 18 wounded people had ​been taken to hospitals after the explosion. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the ⁠attack. In June last year, an explosion in a Damascus church killed 25 people. Little-known Sunni extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack, while authorities blamed the Islamic State group. (FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)