Damascus: At least seven people were killed when a car bomb exploded in the central Syrian city of Homs on Thursday, state media reported.
“Seven killed and others injured according to a first toll in a terrorist car bomb explosion in Wadi Dahab in Homs,” state television said.
The blast was also reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, which said the neighbourhood is majority Alawite — the sect to which President Bashar Al Assad belongs.
In May, Syrian government forces retook control of almost all of Homs, once dubbed the ‘capital of the revolution’, after a deal allowing the withdrawal of rebel fighters trapped under siege.
Alawite districts and areas under regime control in Homs have come under attack, including with car bombs, in recent weeks.
On May 25, 12 people were killed in a twin car bomb attack in the city’s Zahra neighbourhood, just days after a similar attack there killed 100 people.
Those attacks were claimed by Al Nusra Front, the official affiliate of Al Qaida in Syria.
