Syria conflict: Dozens killed in bombings in government-held areas

At least 40 people have been killed in four bombings in government-held areas of Syria and one in a city dominated by Kurdish forces, state media report.

The attacks took place between 08:00 and 09:00 (05:00-06:00 GMT) around Damascus, Homs, Tartous and Hassakeh. It was not clear if they were linked, the BBC reported on Monday.

The deadliest incident was outside Tartous, on the Mediterranean coast.

Tartous, which hosts a Russian naval base, is the heartland of President Bashar al Assad's Alawite sect.

A news agency affiliated to the jihadist group Daesh said a suicide bomber had targeted Kurdish militiamen in Hassakeh, without claiming it was responsible.

Syria's official Sana news agency reported that 30 civilians were killed and 45 others injured in the Tartous countryside on Monday morning.

First, a car bomb was detonated on the Arzoneh motorway bridge, a local police source was cited as saying.

Then, as a crowd gathered at the scene to help the wounded, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt, the source added.

Tartous had been relatively unscathed by Syria's five-year civil war until May, when a suicide bomb attack on a bus station by Daesh militants left dozens dead.

In the central city of Homs, four people were killed and 10 injured when a car bomb exploded at the entrance to the Bab Tadmour district, Sana reported.

The governor of Homs province said the car bomb targeted a military checkpoint and that the casualties were soldiers.

One person was meanwhile killed in a bombing on a road in Saboura, a heavily-guarded western suburb of Damascus, a police source told Sana.

Opposition activist Yousef al Boustani said the area was home to security officers and their families and that the attack represented a major security breach.

In Hassakeh, an explosives-packed motorcycle was blown up at the Marsho roundabout, killing five civilians and injuring two others, Sana said.

Source: MENA