Three police officers were killed and two other people wounded when a car bomb exploded near a police station in eastern Syria on Sunday, state news agency SANA reported.

"Three police officers were martyred and two others were injured in an explosion that occurred today near the police station in the city of Al-Mayadeen in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor," SANA reported.

"At exactly 07:13 pm (1603 GMT) today, an explosion occurred near the Al-Mayadeen police station," Khalil Abdulmoneim al-Ayoub, director of Al-Mayadeen city, said in the report.

"Initial investigations and an inspection of the site revealed that it was caused by a car bomb, resulting in the deaths of three members of the General Security and a number of injuries," he said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five people had been killed in the blast, including four police officers.

"Two civilians, including a girl, were injured," it said.

According to the war monitor, the explosion coincided with the launch of a security campaign in Al-Mayadeen by the General Security, the country's new police force.