DAMASCUS, Syria -- Seventeen people were killed and 14 wounded when a car bomb exploded in southern Damascus on Saturday, Syrian public television channel reported.

It said a car laden with 200 kilos of explosives detonated in a southern suburb of the capital, and that all of the victims were civilians.

It was not immediately known what the target of the attack was, but a private television station reported that the car exploded near a security checkpoint.