DAMASCUS, May 9 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and tens of others wounded when mortar attacks targeted areas in the central part of the Syrian capital Damascus Wednesday, according to state news agency SANA.

The mortar shells landed on a trade center in the Marjeh area in the heart of Damascus and also the Maysat neighborhood north of Damascus.

A fire broke out after the explosion of the mortar attacks, which are believed to have been set by the Islamic State (IS) from the Hajar al-Aswad area south of Damascus.

The Damascenes have taken a sigh of relief when the rebels in the Eastern Ghouta countryside were dislodged out of Damascus, as the rebels in Ghouta were responsible for much of the mortar attacks that hit Damascus during the last seven years.

But as the battle now is focused on the IS positions in Hajar al-Aswad and nearby areas south of Damascus, the terror group fired several mortars over the past few days hitting areas close to Hajar al-Aswad, but this is the first time Marjeh and Maysat were targeted after the liberation of Eastern Ghouta.