At least 16 Syrian soldiers have been killed in a suicide bombing in a southern Damascus suburb, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reports.

The Observatory said a bomber carried out the attack on Saturday while fighters tried to capture the key Tamico factory checkpoint between the opposition-held town of Mleha and Jaramana.

The attack triggered heavy clashes at the checkpoint.

State news agency SANA said the blast wounded 15 people.

Jaramana is mainly populated by Christians and Druze, and residents are mostly loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Witnesses have reported that clashes are ongoing between opposition forces and regime forces.

There are also reports of shelling in both Mleha and Jaramana, according to the Observatory.

Opposition forces have previously targeted Jaramana with bombings and mortar rounds.

Assad has drawn support from Syria's ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians and members of his Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia.

At least 100,000 Syrians have been killed in the country's regime crackdown.

PHOTO CAPTION

Soldiers loyal to the Syrian regime gesture while on their military vehicle in the village of Debaa near Qusair, in this file picture taken June 7, 2013.

Aljazeera