Image: Syrian army soldiers and civilians inspect the site of two bomb explosions in the Syrian city of Homs, Syria, in this handout picture provided by SANA on December 28, 2015. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters
BEIRUT (Reuters) – At least 32 people were killed and 90 wounded in two bomb explosions in the Syrian city of Homs on Monday, monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The blasts, one from a car bomb and another from a suicide attack, struck the Zahra district in the middle of the city, said the Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the conflict through a network of contacts on the ground.
Syria’s state news agency SANA reported two car bomb blasts, but gave a lower initial toll of six dead and 37 wounded.
It was the second major attack in the city since a ceasefire deal took effect earlier this month, paving the way for the government to take over the last rebel-controlled area of Homs.
Twin blasts on Dec. 12, also in Zahra, killed at least 16 people. Islamic State claimed reponsibility for that attack, saying it had detonated a suicide car bomb.
Under the Homs ceasefire deal, at least 700 insurgent fighters and members of their families left the last rebel-controlled area of the city, al Waer district. The United Nations presided over implementation of the deal.
(Reporting by John Davison; editing by Dominic Evans)
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