At least 50 people have lost their lives and 100 others sustained injuries in twin bomb attacks targeting a residential neighborhood in Syria’s western city of Homs.
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The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of those killed appeared to be civilians, adding that the toll could rise further because of the number of seriously wounded.
According to witness reports, the bombs went off within less than a minute of each other at a traffic light at al-Siteen Street targeting civilians in Zahra district of the city.
The two blasts happened near a bus stop in the centre of the city.
Syrian state television gave a toll of at least 25 dead, citing Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi.
The Zahra neighbourhood is predominantly Alawite, the minority Muslim sect to which President Bashar Assad belongs.
Syrian state media blamed the bombing on terrorist groups.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for a bombing in Homs last month, which killed at least 24 people.
State television broadcast footage from the scene, showing emergency workers carrying a charred body on a stretcher past shops shorn of their fronts and mangled cars and minibuses.
With time, the government gained control of most of Homs’ neighbourhoods and a deal was reached late previous year for militants to evacuate the last rebel-held neighbourhood of Waer.
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Peace talks were suspended nearly immediately earlier this month as Syrian government forces and their allies, backed by Russian air strikes, intensified assaults against insurgents in Aleppo province.
