BEIRUT - Militants attacked Syrian security forces in the western city of Homs on Saturday killing at least 14 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.



The sound of gunfire and explosions had been heard since early in the day and those killed included a senior officer, the British-based war monitor said.It was not immediately clear if the militants were from Islamic State or other groups, it said. IS have carried out bombing attacks in the city, which is under government control except for one besieged district held by more moderate rebels.



A witness told Reuters at least one suicide attack had hit government targets inside Homs and killed and wounded several people.



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`; document.getElementById("linkPremium").innerHTML = cont; (function (v, i){ });</s>Suicide attacks on two security service bases in the heart of Syria's government-held third city of Homs killed 42 people on Saturday, overshadowing peace talks in Geneva, state television and a monitor said.

"There were at least six attackers and several of them blew themselves up near the headquarters of state security and military intelligence," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

State television reported that the province's army intelligence chief, General Hassan Daabul, a close confidant of President Bashar al-Assad, was among the dead when the six suicide bombers struck in the heavily guarded Ghouta and Mahatta neighbourhoods.

Security forces locked down the city centre.

Homs has been under the full control of the government since May 2014 when rebels withdrew from the centre under a UN-brokered truce deal.

But it has seen repeated bombings since then. Twin attacks killed 64 people early last year.

State television paid tribute to the "martyrs" in the latest bombings.

There was no immediate claim for the bombings but they bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group, which controls swathes of the largely desert countryside east of Homs.

Government forces retook the oasis city of Palmyra and its UNESCO-listed ancient ruins in a much heralded Russian-backed offensive in March last year but were then pushed out by IS in December.

Since then, the focus of government efforts has been further north, on second city Aleppo, which they fully retook after a rebel withdrawal in December, and areas to its east and west.

Saturday's attack comes as the UN is struggling to get a new round of peace talks off the ground aimed at ending the six-year civil war which has killed more than 310,000 people.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said that despite government and rebel delegations being present in Geneva for the talks there had been little discussion of substance between the rival parties.

"We discussed issues relating to the format of the talks exclusively," said Syrian regime delegation chief Bashar al-Jaafari after meeting de Mistura on Friday.

IS claimed a Friday suicide bombing that killed 51 people outside the northern town of Al-Bab, which Turkish-backed rebels said this week they had taken from the jihadists.

The Observatory said that a car bomb targeted twin command posts at a rebel base in Susian, about eight kilometres (five miles) from Al-Bab, which was one of IS's last remaining strongholds in Aleppo province.

Separately, two Turkish soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Al-Bab on Friday as they were carrying out road checks.</s>Militants attacked two Syrian security offices in the western city of Homs on Saturday with guns and suicide bombers, killing at least 42 people including a senior officer, a war monitor said. The attackers killed the head of military security and 29 others at one of its headquarters in the city and 12 more people at a branch of state security in attacks that began early in the morning, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters.</s>HOMS: Militants attacked Syrian security forces in the western city of Homs on Saturday killing at least 14 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.



The sound of gunfire and explosions had been heard since early in the day and those killed included a senior officer, the British-based war monitor said.

It was not immediately clear if the militants were from Islamic State or other groups, it said. IS have carried out bombing attacks in the city, which is under government control except for one besieged district held by more moderate rebels.

A witness told Reuters at least one suicide attack had hit government targets inside Homs and killed and wounded several people.</s>Militants attacked two Syrian security offices in the western city of Homs on Saturday with guns and suicide bombers, killing at least 42 people including a senior officer, a war monitor said.

The attackers killed the head of military security and 29 others at one of its headquarters in the city and 12 more people at a branch of state security in attacks that began early in the morning, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syrian state television reported that clashes had rocked the districts of al-Ghouta and al-Mohata, where the two targets were located, before three suicide bombers detonated their explosives at each place. It did not give a death toll.

It was not immediately clear if the militants were from Islamic State or other groups, the Observatory, a Britain-based war monitor, said.

IS has carried out bombing attacks in the city, which is under government control except for one besieged district held by more moderate rebels. Several bombings have targeted Syrian cities held by the government of President Bashar al-Assad in recent months.</s>BEIRUT: Suicide attacks on two security service bases in the heart of Syria’s government-held third city of Homs killed 42 people on Saturday, overshadowing peace talks in Geneva, state television and a monitor said. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman said that “there were at least six attackers and several of them blew themselves up near the headquarters of state security and military intelligence.” State television reported that the province’s army intelligence chief, General Hassan Daabul, a close confidant of President Bashar al-Assad, was among the dead when the six suicide bombers struck in the heavily guarded Ghouta and Mahatta neighbourhoods. Security forces locked down the city center. Homs has been under the full control of the government since May 2014 when rebels withdrew from the center under a UN-brokered truce deal. But it has seen repeated bombings since then. Twin attacks killed 64 people early last year.</s>Twin suicide attacks in the western Syrian city of Homs Saturday killed at least 42 people, including a senior intelligence officer.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least six attackers blew themselves up near the headquarters of both state security and military intelligence.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the deadly attacks.

Homs has been under full government control for nearly three years.

On Friday in northern Syria, two suicide car bombings killed at least 65 people, including many civilians, rebel fighters and at least two Turkish soldiers, according to local media and Turkish officials.

IS claimed responsibility for the first attack in al-Bab, saying it has killed eight Turkish soldiers and 60 rebel fighters, according to the pro-IS Amaq news agency.

As IS is losing ground in al-Bab, observers predict, the terror group will rely on such attacks to indicate competence against Turkish forces and Syrian rebels.</s>HOMS, Syria: Suicide bombers stormed two Syrian security offices in Homs on Saturday, killing 42 with gunfire and explosions including a senior officer and prompting airstrikes against the last rebel-held enclave in the western city.

Although Bashar al-Assad regime has controlled most of Homs since 2014, rebels still control its al-Waer district, which warplanes bombed on Saturday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, wounding 50.

The attack comes as government and opposition delegations join peace talks in Geneva sponsored by the United Nations.

Saturday’s assault in Homs began with clashes near a branch of military security in al-Mohata district and a branch of state security in al-Ghouta district before suicide bombers struck in both locations, state media reported.</s>More than 20 people were killed when suicide attackers targeted a security building in the central Syrian city of Homs.

The governor of Homs Province, Talal Barzani, said there were three blasts, killing more than 20 people, and wounding many others.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported at least 14 people were killed.

Homs is Syria's third-largest city and largely in the control of the government.</s>At least 20 people killed following a series of attacks on security offices in the country's third-largest city.

A series of suicide attacks on military installations in Syria's government-held city of Homs have killed at least 20 people.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday that loud explosions and gunfire were heard following the assault in the western city.

"There were at least six attackers and several of them blew themselves up near the headquarters of state security and military intelligence," Syrian Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP news agency.

The governor of Homs province, Talal Barzani, told The Associated Press news agency there were three blasts in total, killing more than 20 people and wounding many others.

The Syrian Observatory said 42 people had been killed.

Rahman said a senior intelligence officer was among the dead after the attacks in the heavily guarded Ghouta and Mahatta neighbourhoods. Security forces locked down the city centre.

Syrian state television paid tribute to the "martyrs" in Saturday's bombings.

It was unclear what group the assailants belonged to but the attack bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, which controls swathes of the largely desert countryside east of Homs.

Homs has been under the full control of the government since May 2014 when rebels withdrew from the city centre under a UN-brokered truce.

But the city has seen repeated bombings since then. Twin attacks killed 64 people early last year.

The attacks come as peace negotiators continue talks for the second day in Geneva over Syria's six-year-old civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that militants attacked two Syrian Armed Forces bases in Homs, killing at least 42 people, including a senior intelligence officer.