Several killed in Homs terror attacks

Multiple near-simultaneous terror attacks in Syria’s western city of Homs have left at least 14 people dead and many more injured, the country’s media reports say.

Syrian state television said on Monday that dozens had been killed and injured in a triple explosion in the al-Zahra neighborhood.

“The preliminary toll in simultaneous terrorist explosions that hit the city’s al-Zahra neighborhood is 14 dead and 132 wounded,” the television reported.

However, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in the UK and is affiliated to to foreign-backed opposition groups, has put the death toll at 32.

According to police sources, the attacks took place near the Ruqyah medical clinic in central Homs.

Preliminary reports said a bomber detonated his explosives before another explosion went off, which was then followed by a third blast at the site of the first attack.

The deaths came a day after some 10 people were killed in a mortar attack in the Syrian capital, Damascus, which was carried out by foreign-backed militants from the so-called Jaysh al-Islam group, one of several Takfiri terrorist groups operating in Syria.

Violence committed by militants in Syria continues days after the UN Security Council on December 18 unanimously approved a resolution endorsing an international roadmap for a peace process for the country.

Earlier this month, foreign-backed forces began evacuating the last militant-held district in Homs, in accordance to a deal reached with Damascus.

Foreign-backed militants have been carrying out attacks in Syria since March 2011. According to the United Nations, the conflict has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people so far and left over one million others wounded.