11:06AM IL: First reports of an explosion in Damascus, on a bus near Humeini Hospital in the Syrian capital, began a short time ago. There are reports of at least 12 dead and at least dozens of injured.

Arab media reports indicate the passengers on the bus were Iranian pilgrims visiting a Shiite holy site in Syria. Syria enjoys about 500,000 Iranian visitors annually. Some reports indicate it is yet unconfirmed if the passengers were indeed Iranian pilgrims.

The explosion coincides with a visit by the equivalent of Iran’s national security advisor and experts are not ruling out a connection.

Israel is carefully monitoring reports from the Arab media. Interestingly, Syrian news agencies are not reporting the terror attack.

 UPDATE: 11:53AM IL: Eyewitness reports broadcast by al-Jazeera Damascus are describing a “major attack” with many dead and injured. A quasi-government media release states the driver and passengers were outside the bus as the driver was repairing something, resulting in a small number of injuries.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)