Syria blast near UN convoy going to Deraa

An explosion has hit a Syrian military truck escorting a convoy of UN observers near the city of Deraa, just seconds after UN staff had passed by.

The head of the UN team, Maj Gen Robert Mood, was in the convoy, but neither he nor any of the other monitors was hurt. Eyewitnesses said at least three Syrian soldiers were wounded. The windows of the truck were shattered.

The observers are in Syria as part of the joint UN-Arab League peace plan and began deploying last month. There are now about 70 monitors in Syria but their presence has had no effect in quelling the violence. Deraa was where the uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.