A number of people have been killed in blasts in the north-western Syrian city of Idlib, activists and state TV say, BBC News reported.

TV reports said two suicide bombings had killed eight people, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 20 had died in attacks targeting the security forces.

The UN is currently deploying monitors to the country to oversee a fragile peace plan. Thirty will be in place soon but the UN warns it will need many more.

The Observatory said the Idlib bombs had exploded next to the Air Force Intelligence headquarters and the Military Intelligence building, with most of the casualties security personnel.

State TV said "two terrorist suicide bombs" in Hananu Square on Carlton Street had killed eight and wounded dozens - both civilians and security personnel.

One activist told Associated Press news agency the blast sites were several hundred metres apart and the bombs went off within five minutes of each other shortly after daybreak.

The Observatory also said there had been a powerful blast near the capital Damascus, causing casualties, but this has not been independently confirmed.

State TV also said there had been a rocket-propelled grenade attack by three men on the Syrian Central Bank in Damascus overnight, but again this has not been verified.