Two bombs went off near the Syrian military's joint chiefs of staff's offices in central Damascus today, state television said.

The explosions struck the Abu Rumaneh district of the Syrian capital, wounding four people, state TV said.

Government officials say the explosion appeared to target a building under construction near the offices of the military's joint chiefs of staff. The building, which was empty at the time of the blast, is a base for army officers who guard the joint chiefs of staff offices, which are located some 200 yards away.

The officials say the wounded were army officers.

Earlier it was reported that a car bomb near a Palestinian refugee camp in a suburb of Damascus had killed at least 15 people.

The state news agency SANA said the explosion in the suburb of al-Sbeineh late last night also wounded several people and caused heavy damage to buildings in the area.

It blamed the blast on an "armed terrorist group," the term it uses to describe the rebel Free Syrian Army seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad.