At least 13 people, including 10 policemen, were killed when a car bomb exploded north of the Syrian capital, activists said, according to Belfast Telegraph.

The Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights said the blast struck overnight near the police headquarters in the town of Deir Atiyeh. The Observatory said a child was among the three civilians killed.

Syria's state news agency confirmed the attack. It said a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car in a residential area of the town, causing an unknown number of casualties.

The agency said "terrorists" were behind the attack - a government term for rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad's regime.