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At least 47 killed in string of Syria bombings: monitor

The IS-run Aamaq news agency says the group was behind the “simultaneous” attacks on Monday.

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Shortly after the bombings, the Islamic State group announced it had carried out the attack in Hasakeh, which state media reported claimed five lives.

A deal would depend on Moscow using its influence with Syrian President Bashar Assad to persuade him to ground planes and stop the assault on opposition forces. His gains have relied heavily on Russian air support since September past year. The attacks were timed closely together, but authorities have not determined whether they were linked.

“We have had some productive conversations about what a real cessation of hostilities would look like, that would allow us both, the United States and Russian Federation, to focus our attention on common enemies, like ISIL and Nusra”, Obama said, referring to Islamic State and the hardline Nusra Front.

The city, which is Syria’s third-largest, is largely under government control, with only one neighborhood still held by rebels. The Kremlin’s intervention in Syria in September 2015 has made Russian Federation a primary target for Isis violence, as its backing of the government in Damascus essentially changed the course of the civil war.

The deadliest were two explosions on the Arzouna bridge area at the entrance to Tartous, which killed 35 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Islamic State attacked Tartous in May. The Observatory said it hit an army checkpoint, killing four officers.

Then, as a crowd gathered at the scene to help the wounded, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt, the source added.

An hour later, five people were killed in a blast in the northeastern city of Hasakah which was followed by a vehicle bomb blast in the coastal city of Tartus, where eleven were killed.

The cities of Tartous, Homs and Hassakeh and in the suburbs of capital Damascus were believed to have been targeted.

Apart from Tartus, other areas, included the government-held Homs city and a Kurdish security forces checkpoint in Hasekeh city, were also targeted.

Meanwhile, a bomber also struck in the northeastern city of Hasakeh, which is mostly controlled by Kurdish forces, killing at least eight more people.

IS had earlier claimed another attack targeting Kurdish forces in the northeastern city of Hasakeh, and said another bombing targeted Kurdish forces in the nearby city of Qamishli.

Three days ago, the Syrian Ministry of Tourism shared a promo clip on social media.

He said the blasts appeared to be coordinated.

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The latest violence came a day after Turkish forces and allied rebels seized the last part of the Turkish-Syrian border under IS control.

Multiple bomb blasts rock Syria