By Eman Nassar
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AA): At least 40 people were killed in two suicide bombings on heavily fortified security facilities in government-held Homs city in western Syria on Saturday, according to the official SANA news agency.
Homs governor Talal Barzani said 24 people were injured in the attacks.
No further details were available about the blasts, but foreign media outlets said a top intelligence official was killed in the bombings.
One attack took place in the secured military building and the other attack on state security building.
Six suicide bombers took part. The attacks took place simultaneously.
According to TV reports, an army intelligence head, General Hassan Daaboul, was killed in the attack. One of the the suicide bomber got into his offices to carry out the killing.
Jabhat Fateh al Sham [former al Nusrah Front has claimed responsibility.
The attacks follow Syrian army move eastward in a bid to retake the ancient city of Palmyra, located in the Homs province. On Friday, the troops defeated Daesh as well as Jabhat Fateh al Sham terrorists near the mountain of Al-Hayal that overlooks Palmyra’s western neighborhoods, Syrian news agency SANA reported.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and upwards of 10 million displaced across the war-torn country, according to the UN. The Syrian Center for Policy Research puts the death toll at more than 470,000.
Additional reporting by The Muslim News
[Archive Photo: Homs in Syria destroyed by civil war. Photo by Flikr/Creative Commons]