DAMASCUS/BEIRUT: Deadly fighting erupted inside the headquarters compound of the Syrian army in the heart of Damascus on Wednesday following twin bombings around the heavily guarded complex, a human rights group said.

The clashes in the general staff compound in the capital’s Umayyad Square district left dead on both sides, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

According to the military, Syrian commanders all escaped injury in the twin bombings that struck near the army headquarters.

“Armed terrorist groups with affiliations abroad this morning carried out a new act of terrorism by detonating a car bomb and another device on the edge of the general staff compound,” an army statement said.

“All senior commanders and other officers are safe and sound, and none of them was wounded,” the statement carried by state media said.

The early morning explosions sparked a fire in the Syrian capital's closely guarded Umayyad Square administrative district, state television said.

The Britain-based watchdog Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that both blasts were accompanied by automatic weapons fire.