The latest carnage came in a series of blasts, the deadliest of which was a double bombing in the coastal province of Tartous, a stronghold of President Bashar Al-Assad’s government.
Advertisement
Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama have so far failed to reach a deal to ease fighting in Syria.
“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”, Mr Obama said, referring to the Islamic State group and the hardline Nusra Front.
Mr Putin told journalists there was a convergence of views between Russian Federation and the United States. Putin meanwhile said he felt there was “some alignment of positions and an understanding of what we could do to de-escalate the situation in Syria”. Conflicting casualty figures are common in the Syria war.
“I think we managed to get to an understanding of one another and to understanding of the problems that we are facing”, he added. His gains have relied heavily on Russian air support since September previous year.
At least 48 people have been killed in bombings in mainly government-held areas of Syria, and dozens have been injured.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said that attack targeted a checkpoint and gave a toll of three dead.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to a statement by the ISIS-affiliated Amaq agency.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he was working with the US -led coalition and Russian Federation to try to establish a ceasefire in Aleppo before the Eid al-Adha religious holiday expected to start around September 11. The second took place when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt as people gathered to help the injured from the first incident, a source at Tartous Police Command told the news agency.
Areas controlled by Assad’s forces have had several bombings and other attacks claimed by both IS and al-Qaida-linked militant groups.
The governor of Homs province said the vehicle bomb targeted a military checkpoint and that the casualties were soldiers.
The governor of Homs province said a auto bomb struck a military checkpoint in the provincial capital, killing three soldiers and a civilian, and wounding 10 others.
In the predominantly-Kurdish city of Hasakah, the IS said, a bomber carried out a suicide attack against a checkpoint of Kurdish security forces, known as Assayish. In the northeastern city of Hasakeh, a bomber on a motorbike killed six members of the Kurdish security forces and two civilians.
The YPG controls swathes of northern Syria where Kurdish groups have established de facto autonomy since the start of the Syrian war, much to the alarm of neighbouring Turkey, which fears the creation of a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria would fuel Kurdish separatist ambitions at home.
A State Department spokesman said yesterday that Washington’s envoy to the US-led coalition against IS had been in Syria and Turkey last week holding talks with Syrian Kurdish forces and Turkish officials.
Advertisement
Ankara has demanded that Kurdish militia fighters remain east of the Euphrates river, something Washington has promised they will do.
