Six explosions claimed by the Islamic State group hit government-controlled areas and a province held by a Kurdish militia in Syria on Monday, killing dozens of people, state media and a monitor said.
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Reports say blasts also happened in the city of Homs and on a road outside Damascus.
The bombings hit Arzuna Bridge, which is outside the provincial capital of Tartus City, killing at least 35 people and wounding 43, state media said.
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.
Syria’s official Sana news agency reported that 30 civilians had been killed and 45 others injured in the Tartous countryside.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which maintains a network of contacts inside Syria, put the overall death toll at 53.
A auto bomb struck a military checkpoint in the central provincial capital of Homs, killing three soldiers and a civilian, and wounding 10 others, according to the governor of Homs.
The observers said that a further explosion hit al-Hassakeh, in the north-east of Syria, targeting a Kurdish area and killing at least five people. SANA said the attack killed one person, while the opposition-run Observatory said three people were killed.
The attacks came after the group steadily lost ground in both Syria and Iraq in recent months. 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. No terrorist group claimed responsibility for the blasts, however, Islamic State (Isis) has previously frequently targeted multiple areas which were affected by the blasts on Monday.
An explosive-laden vehicle was detonated at the checkpoint when it was detected by military personnel, Xinhua news agency reported.
The facilities have been used during Moscow’s Syria campaign too – they enable provision of military supplies to the Russian contingent fighting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
It said the explosion came as authorities and rebels in al-Waer were working to establish reconciliation that might lead to an end to insurgency in the neighborhood, the last rebel-held district inside the city of Homs.
The escalating violence came as U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin met Monday for the first time in almost a year, after talks over the weekend between the two countries on a deal to reduce violence in Syria stalled.
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Mr Obama described talks with Mr Putin as tough but “productive” after their meeting at the G20 summit in China. Conflicting casualty figures are common in the 5-year-old Syria civil war.
