One dead in Damascus blasts on eve of polls: state media

One person was killed and another wounded in two blasts Saturday in the Syrian capital, state news agency SANA said, on the eve of the country's third war-time parliamentary polls.

It said "one person was killed and another gravely wounded as a consequence of the explosion of two devices" in the Nahr Aisha area of southern Damascus.

The explosions occurred "next to one of the kiosks opposite the Anas bin Malik mosque" and the wounded person was transported to hospital, SANA reported, without providing more details.

Syrians go to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament as the Damascus government grapples with international sanctions and a crumbling economy after retaking large parts of the war-torn country.

President Bashar al-Assad's Baath party and its allies are expected to win most of parliament's 250 seats in the first elections since 2016.

These elections will also see polling stations in former opposition bastions, including in the Eastern Ghouta region outside Damascus and in the south of Idlib province in the country's northwest.

Damascus has largely been secure since Russia-backed government forces expelled rebels and jihadists from the capital's doorstep in 2018.

After a string of military victories backed by key ally Russia, the government has regained control of around 70 percent of the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

Syria's war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions from their homes since starting in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.

© 2020 AFP