(Agencies) : At least six people were killed and 23 others injured when an explosive device planted in a motorcycle near a taxi detonated in the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday, said a report.

Citing an Interior Ministry statement, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that the bombing occurred in the near grand daughter of Prophet Muhmmad, Sayyidah Zaynab shrine a day before holy day of Ashura

Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabash said in a statement that 26 people wounded in the blast in the Sayyidah Zaynab neighborhood were being treated at several hospitals. Twenty others were treated on site or discharged, he said.

Police and relevant authorities were dispatched to the scene, according to the statement.

Ashura is the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram, which is one of the holiest months for Muslims. It marks the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Husaynn, and his 72 companions in Karbala, Iraq. They were killed by Caliph Yazid’s army as Imam Husayn had refused to accept the Caliph’s leadership.

According to AP, the explosion was the second in the Sayyidah Zaynab neighborhood in the days leading to Ashura. On Tuesday, Syrian state media citing a police official said that two civilians were wounded when a motorcycle laced with explosives was detonated.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

[Map of Syria from CIA Factbook/Public Domain]