Video: Double car blasts kill 57 in Syria's Homs

Twin bomb blasts in a Syrian regime stronghold in Homs city have killed 57 people and injured a hundred more, with the death toll expected to rise.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

21 February, 2016

At least 57 people have been killed and a hundred more injured after a double car bomb blasted through the pro-Syrian regime neighbourhood of al-Zahraa in Homs city on Sunday.

Many of the dead appear to be civilians with the death toll set to rise in the latest car bomb attack to hit the neighbourhood.

No group has yet claimed responsibility but a similar attack in the same district last December was claimed by the Islamic State group.

"Initial figures show that tens were killed, but the number has risen to at least 40 and it is expected to continue to rise because of the number of those seriously wounded," spokesman for the Homs Media Centre, Mohammed al-Sabawi told The New Arab.

The blasts took place near traffic lights at al-Siteen Street in the city of Homs, Syrian state TV reported.

"Two blasts took place in the al-Zahra district of central Homs. At least one of the bombs was triggered by a suicide bomber," Syrian police said. "There are casualties among the civilian population."

Footage of the immediate aftermath of the bombings have been shared widely on social media outlets showing a scene of wide devastation and numerous casualties.

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Bombings targeting the Alawite district of al-Zahra have rocked the city over the past few months.

Protests erupted in December with anger directed against the city's governor for failing to secure the district from car-bombs.

Homs was once a major centre for anti-government protests leading it to be titled "the Capital of the Revolution".

Damascus retook control of most of the city in 2012 in battles with opposition fighters that led to the wide-scale destruction of the city due to heavy regime shelling and bombing.

Remnants of opposition factions in the Waer district were evacuated after a rare UN-backed deal was brokered in December.