Media reports said the explosions were caused by car bombs and happened in the Kfar Sousa district of the capital close to a complex housing security and intelligence services.
Unconfirmed reports are that among the dead were detainees who were killed in buses near the scene, along with military personnel. Members of the Arab League delegation which is in the country to assess the situation, also visited the scene.
Sameer Seif el-Yazal, head of the first observers party, said: "We are here to see the facts on the ground... What we are seeing today is regretful, the important thing is for things to calm down."
Residents in Damascus reported hearing gunfire and ambulance sirens for a few minutes following the explosions.
State TV suggested the blasts could be the work of al Qaeda-linked militants. The Syrian state has blamed terrorists and foreign interference for the ongoing protests against President Bashar al Assad.
A Syrian government spokesman also added that Lebanon had warned Damascus two days ago of an infiltration by al Qaeda into Syria.
But whilst not accusing the regime directly, Omar Idilbi, who is an opposition figure and member of the Syrian National Council, said the explosions were "very mysterious because they happened in heavily guarded areas that are difficult to be penetrated by a car.
"The presence of the Arab League advance team of observers pushed the regime to give this story in order to scare the committee from moving around Syria," he said.
"(This is) an attempt to make the Arab League and international public opinion believe that Syria is being subjected to acts of terrorism by members of al Qaeda."
The blasts went off outside the main headquarters of the General Intelligence Agency and a branch of the military intelligence, two of the most powerful of Syria's multiple intelligence bodies.
Sky's foreign editor Tim Marshall addressed concerns about Syria slipping into a sectarian civil war: "This at the moment does not look like a sectarian attack. It looks like an attack against the military."
Continuing the government's line which blames foreign agents and armed gangs for the unrest, deputy foreign minister Faysal Mekdad told reporters: "We said it from the beginning, this is terrorism. They are killing the army and civilians."
Kfar Soussa, an upscale area of Damascus in which many senior government officials live, is close to one of Damascus University's main campuses, and is where the country's parliament house is situated.
Haifa Nashar, a 45-year-old Alawite who lives in the area, said: "I've never seen anything like this in my life, may God curse their souls!" She denounced Qatar, the Arab Gulf nation that has been at the forefront of criticism of Syria.
The international community has been criticised by the Alawi-led regime for stirring up sectarian hostilities. "This is what Hamad wants," Ms Nashar said, referring to Qatar's prime minister Hamad bin Jassim al Thani. "There was never any difference between Syrians, Sunnis, Christians and Alawites. But if this is what they want, then I say Alawites before anyone else."
The explosions, the first of their kind since the anti-government demonstrations began, come a day after Arab League representatives arrived in Syria to monitor Mr Assad's pledge to end the violence.
Opposition figures had planned another day of protests to mark the occasion, and as news of the explosions spread, further demonstrations were reported in all the major cities.
More than 5,000 people are thought to have died since the protests began nine months ago.
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