[kellyhound]

A double bombing rocked central Damascus on Tuesday morning, wounding at least 18 people in a coordinated attack that closely mirrors a deadly ambush used against the military just two months ago.

The explosions occurred near the Victoria Bridge and the Ministry of Tourism, just 200 meters from the luxury Four Seasons Hotel.

The site was highly secure due to the historic, high-profile official visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to the new Syrian government.

Syrian security forces had initially spotted two IED's, one concealed inside a parked car and another hidden in a nearby trash can.

However, as an explosives disposal team prepared to defuse the devices, they were detonated.

The coordinated detonation utilized a secondary blast explicitly timed to target the crowd and first responders rushing to the scene.

The second bomb exploded directly next to a parked ambulance where a crowd of about twenty people had gathered following the initial blast.