At least 18 Assad regime soldiers killed in blast near Damascus

At least 18 Assad regime soldiers on Thursday were killed in a blast that targeted their military bus in rural Damascus.

The state-run SANA news agency said 27 others sustained wounds from the deadly blast, which detonated their bus.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the incident.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN estimates.