BEIRUT, Lebanon — Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi of Syria escaped what appeared to be an assassination attempt on Monday in an upscale neighborhood of Damascus, where a car bomb exploded near his convoy, according to state-run media and opposition accounts. The blast was the latest in a series of attacks on high-ranking Syrians targeted by insurgents in the civil war.

The bombing took place in Mezze, a central district of the Syrian capital where many senior officials live, and at least one opposition account said a bodyguard had been killed. The state media reported injuries, but said the prime minister was unhurt. Video on state television showed a car’s charred skeleton and, nearby, a bus with its windows shattered.

The assault fit a pattern of attempts to attack high officials and religious figures close to President Bashar al-Assad. Less than two weeks ago, another official — Ali Balan, the government’s chief coordinator of emergency aid distribution to civilians — was killed by gunmen with silencer-equipped weapons at a restaurant in the same heavily guarded neighborhood, close to buildings housing government and military institutions.

In March, a large bomb hit a central Damascus mosque and killed at least 42 people including Syria’s top Sunni cleric, Sheik Mohammad Said Ramada al-Bouti, who was an early supporter of Mr. Assad’s side in the conflict.