Dozens killed in Syria bombings

Two bombs exploded at the entrance to Tartus (pictured above), a government-held city in Syria's coast, SANA news agency reported on Monday. A car bomb blew up at the Arzoneh bridge and was followed by a suicide bombing. Tartus is home to a Russian naval base.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 35 people were killed in the blasts and dozens more were injured.

In Homs, a car bomb struck a military checkpoint, killing two soldiers and injuring four, SANA said. The bomb exploded in the city's Bab Tadmor district, most of which is under government control, except for one neighborhood under rebel forces.

According to SANA, another attacker detonated his motorbike in the northeastern city of Hasakeh. Five people were killed in the city, including three members of the Kurdish police force and two civilians, the Syrian Observatory told reporters. Hasakeh is controlled by Kurdish YPG forces. The Kurds and their political wing, the PYD, control the city, but the state police continue to function in the area.

Another explosion claimed one life in Sabbourah, a suburb of Damascus, SANA news agency said. The Syrian Observatory, however, pegged the number of dead at three.

No organization has claimed responsibility for the attacks. At least 160 people died in May this year when militants of the "Islamic State" (IS) hit the neighboring towns of Tartus and Jableh.

Syria has been divided among government forces, rebels and the IS since the civil war began in the country in 2011.

mg/jil (AFP, AP, Reuters)