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Five bomb attacks, claimed by ISIS, kill 40 people in Syria

The ISIL-run Aamaq news agency said the group was behind the “simultaneous” attacks on Monday, which included six suicide bombings and a remotely detonated bomb.

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No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, which all took place between 8 am and 9 am local time (0500-0600 GMT).

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, which maintains a network of contacts inside the country, put the toll at 47 dead.

A bombing was reported in the heavily guarded Damascus suburb of Sabbourah.

The projectiles also caused substantial damage to public properties and several houses in the targeted area.

Tartus city is home to a Russian naval base in Syria.

The blasts targeted the Arzuna bridge, “the first a auto bomb and the second a suicide bomber who detonated his explosive belt when people gathered to help the wounded”, according to state television. The blasts occurred in majorly government-controlled areas, killing at least 30 people in President Bashar al-Assad’s stronghold Tartus.

At least 11 people were killed and 45 wounded, a source in the Tartous police told SANA.

“My vehicle caught fire and army soldiers pulled us out of the auto”, he said.

Report says, twin bombings rocked a checkpoint at the Tartus city’s entrance.

Foreign and Expatriates Ministry affirmed on Monday that the terrorist, bloody explosions which took place today in the Syrian cities of Tartous, Homs, Damascus countryside and Hasaka are a continuation of the systemized terrorism practiced by the terrorist organizations, calling on Security Council to take immediate, punitive and deterrent procedures against the countries that support terrorism. Putin said the two men had understood each other and an agreement on ways to significantly reduce the violence in Syria could be reached in days.

Obama said the U.S. and Russia “haven’t yet closed the gaps” on a ceasefire agreement, a day after Russian-backed government forces advanced against rebels and reimposed a siege on the rebel-held eastern sector of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

And in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Hassakah, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed five Kurdish security forces at a checkpoint. The ISIL news agency said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber targeting a checkpoint manned by Kurdish forces.

Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said in an emailed statement on Monday that rebel groups “under US control”, unlike the Syrian government, still have not offered guarantees of safe passage along those routes. Another bomber blew himself up as he was arrested, killing the security officer and wounding three civilians, he added.

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State television also said there was an explosion along the al-Sobura – al-Bija road outsode Damascus.

Two explosions hit the Arzoneh motorway bridge at the entrance to Tartous