DAMASCUS - At least eight people were killed and 10 others wounded when a car bomb ripped through Damascus' district of Ruken Addien Saturday night, local media and activists said.

A "big" explosive device was planted under a car in the northeastern district of Ruken Addien, the state media said, adding that bomb squads were dismantling another explosive device in the same area.

Meanwhile, the oppositional Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four of those killed were government soldiers and the bomb was affixed under a government troops' vehicle.

Earlier in the day, several explosions rocked the countryside of Damascus, killing at least eight people in all.

Bombing and mortar attacks have become daily routine in Syria whose government blames the al-Qaida terror network for creating chaos across the country.