Dozens dead in Syria multiple blasts as US, Russia talks stall

Da'ish claims responsibility for the string of attacks which claim nearly 50 lives

DAMASCUS:  

A string of bombings claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group killed dozens across Syria on Monday, as Washington and Moscow failed to agree on a deal to stem the country's violence.

The blasts in mostly government-held territory killed at least 48 people and wounded dozens more, a day after the militant group lost the last stretch of the Syria-Turkey border under its control.

In China, where world powers were gathered for the G20 meeting, US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin touted "productive" talks and "some alignment" on Syria.

But the two powers failed to produce an expected deal to ease the violence in Syria, where more than 290,000 people have been killed and more than half the population displaced since March 2011.

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The latest carnage came in a series of blasts, the deadliest of which was a double bombing in the coastal province of Tartus, a stronghold of President Bashar al Assad's government.

Monday's bombings came after advances by Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels expelled IS from the last stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border under their control.

The militant group has been losing ground to both an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces and, more recently, a Turkish offensive involving rebels loyal to Ankara.

In central Homs city, state media said at least four people were killed in a car bomb at the entrance to the Al Zahraa neighbourhood, whose residents mostly belong to the same Alawite sect as Assad.

Al Zahraa has also been regularly targeted in bomb attacks, including a devastating double bomb blast in February that killed 57 people and was claimed by IS.

State television broadcast images from the aftermath of the blast in Homs, showing rubble strewn on the streets and smoke rising from the charred remains of vehicles.

US, Russia fail to reach Syria deal

Another bomb attack was also reported on the Al-Sabura road west of the capital Damascus, with state media saying one person had been killed and three injured in that bombing.

The Observatory said that attack targeted a checkpoint and gave a toll of three dead.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the dead in both the Homs and Al-Sabura road attacks were government security forces manning checkpoints.

He said the blasts appeared to be coordinated.

"Clearly these attacks were simultaneous and they all targeted security posts," he said.

More than 290,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011, and millions displaced by the fighting.

Successive rounds of international negotiations aimed at find a political solution have failed to bear fruit, though US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov are due to resume discussions on stemming the violence Monday.