According to Syria's state news agency, SANA, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car in a residential area of the town of Deir Atiyeh, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Damascus.

Foreign-backed terrorists fighting against the government in Syria were behind the attack, SANA said.

The so-called Observatory for Human Rights also reported the blast, putting the number of killed at 13 people. One child was among the dead, the Observatory said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but radical groups, including those with links to al-Qaida, frequently target Syrian government institutions, security installations and troops with car bombs and suicide attacks.

Last month, a branch of Al-Qaeda known as the al-Nusra Front, claimed responsibility for multiple suicide attacks on security compounds in Damascus that killed at least five people.

The conflict in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of Western and regional states.

The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end in sight, the US government has boosted its political and military support to Takfiri extremists.

Washington has remained indifferent about warnings by Russia and other world powers about the consequences of arming militant groups.

SHI/SHI