A bomb exploded outside a police station in a Christian quarter of Damascus' Old City on Sunday, killing seven people and wounding many others, a security official said.

"At least seven people were killed and many others wounded when a bomb or a car bomb exploded in Bab Tuma Square in front of the police station," the official told AFP.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog group said the explosion was caused by a car bomb.

This was the first attack in Bab Tuma, one of the oldest quarters of the capital.

The Christian hierarchy and a large part of the faithful back Bashar al-Assad, fearful of the influence of Islamists in the rebellion to overthrow the Syrian president.

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