Explosions strike Syria’s Damascus and Homs, 4 killed

More than six years after the conflict began, most major Syrian cities have at this point reverted to government control. Syria’s civil war has left about 400,000 people dead and millions displaced from their homes.

Hilal said the Homs attack was a “new crime in response to the victories of the Syrian Arab army.” State TV aired footage from the area showing charred cars and a street full of debris as paramedics in red uniforms searched for casualties.

The city, once known as the capital of the revolution, has been devastated by the war. The mixed city of Muslims and Christians has often come under attack from the Islamic State group, which frequently targets religious minorities to fuel the sectarian nature of the conflict.

The TV channel also reported that Syrian forces hit a pickup truck rigged with explosives on the road leading to the Damascus International Airport, killing two militants. The area is close to a prominent Shiite shrine.

Aamaq, the IS-linked news agency, said members of the group carried out both of the attacks, naming the neighbourhoods in both Homs and Damascus.

Also near Damascus, the International Committee of the Red Cross said a convoy of 42 trucks carrying food and medical supplies had entered the eastern, opposition-held suburb of Jairoud. The ICRC said the supplies are for 36,000 people and that the delivery was carried out in co-ordination with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the United Nations.

Tens of thousands of people in Syria still live in areas besieged by rival groups.

Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Explosions strike Syria’s Damascus and Homs, 4 killed

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