Suicide car bomber kills 15 in Damascus

Burned cars are seen at the site of car bomb explosion in Damascus, Syria (EPA)

A suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives in Damascus today, killing at least 15 people, setting cars and buildings on fire and sending plumes of smoke over the capital.

The explosion came as the United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said inspectors were ready to deploy to Syria within 24 hours to investigate reports of chemical weapons attacks, but had not yet received permission from Bashar al-Assad’s government.