Toll in double bombing in Syria's Homs rises to 46: monitor

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says most of those killed appeared to be civilians

BEIRUT: The toll in a double car bomb attack in the central city of Homs on Sunday rose to 46 dead, with dozens more injured, a monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of those killed appeared to be civilians, and that the toll could rise further because of the number of wounded with serious injuries.

Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi gave AFP an initial toll of 17 dead and 29 wounded in the blasts. Syrian state television broadcast footage from the scene of the attack in the Al-Zahraa neighbourhood, showing the air thick with dust and smoke rising from blazes started by the blasts.

Fire-fighters ran through debris strewn by the explosions as security forces and civilians tried to prise open the wreckage of one vehicle to retrieve a person inside. Nearby, a charred body was carried away on a stretcher by emergency services workers.

The bombings appeared to have caused extensive damage, ripping the fronts off shops surrounding the site and mangling cars and minibuses.

Homs city is almost completely controlled by the Syrian government, and has regularly been targeted in bomb attacks. Al-Zahraa neighbourhood in particular has been the target of multiple attacks, including last month, when at least 22 people were killed in a double suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group.