BEIRUT (AP) — A bomb exploded near a Syrian military bus Thursday, killing and wounding several soldiers in a suburb of Damascus, according to a pro-government radio station and an opposition war monitor.

It was not immediately clear how many troops were killed in the blast near the capital city, but the the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll could be as high as 17. Syrian state media did not immediately report the attack.

Similar attacks over the past years have killed and wounded dozens of soldiers in government-held parts of the war-torn country. Last March, militants attacked a military bus near Palmyra in central Syria, killing 13 troops and wounding 18 others.

Syrian authorities in the past have blamed such attacks on Islamic State group militants who have been active in southern and central Syria, despite losing territorial control in the country since 2019.