TIMELINE: Recent attacks in Syria

(Reuters) - A car bomb exploded in the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday, killing 17 civilians and wounding 14 in what the interior minister said was a terrorist attack.

Syrian authorities pride themselves on maintaining stability in the country of 19 million, but their reputation for control has been challenged in the last 2 years by a series of attacks.

Here is a chronology of recent attacks in Syria:

September 12, 2006 - Four Syrians try to blow up the American embassy in Damascus. Syrian guards kill four assailants. A Syrian guard and bystander are also killed.

July 24, 2007 - An explosion at a military complex in northern Syria kills 15 soldiers and wounds 50. Authorities say the blast was caused by an accident. Syrian television says the explosion was "not a terrorist act."

September 6, 2007 - Israel bombs what Syrian President Bashar al-Assad describes as a military complex under construction but Israel and Western intelligence say was a nuclear weapons site.

September 28, 2007 - A Syrian cleric known to be a recruiter of foreign fighters traveling to Iraq to fight U.S.-led forces is killed in the northern city of Aleppo. Sheikh Mahmoud Abou al-Qaqa is shot dead after emerging from Friday prayers.

February 12, 2008 - Senior Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyah, on the United States' most wanted list for attacks on Israeli and U.S. targets, is killed by a car bomb attack in Damascus.

August 2, 2008 - Brigadier General Mohammad Suleiman, 49, is shot dead at a beach resort near the port city of Tartous.

Sept 27, 2008 - A car bomb explodes in the Syrian capital Damascus, killing 17 civilians and wounding 14.