Mortars hit Damascus stadium, kill soccer player

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s state-run news agency says two mortars have exploded inside a soccer stadium in central Damascus, killing one player and injuring several.

The SANA agency said the mortars landed Wednesday in the Tishrin Stadium in the central Baramkeh district during soccer practice.

It says one player from the Homs-based al-Wathbah club was killed. The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported one player was killed.

The mortar attack was the second in as many days in the capital. On Tuesday, two mortars exploded near one of President Bashar Assad’s palaces, causing material damage only.

The attack was the first confirmed strike close to a presidential palace and another sign that the civil war is seeping into areas of the capital once considered safe.