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> 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> 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> 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> 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> 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. </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> BEIRUT - Islamic State militants ambushed Syrian government forces in the country’s desert, setting off two days of clashes that killed over two dozen soldiers, a war monitoring organization said Saturday.

A pro-government militia confirmed the ambush, saying it had sent its fighters to liberate the two besieged battalions.

The Islamic State group lost its last territories in Syria in March after months of battles with U.S-backed Kurdish-led fighters in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

But the militants remain active in the desert to the west of Deir el-Zour, where they have taken refuge and increasingly targeted government troops and allied militia.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS militants ambushed government forces in the desert of central Homs province Thursday night, setting off clashes that lasted for two days. The Observatory said at least 27 soldiers were killed, including four officers. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption IS claims wave of bombings that kills dozens

At least 40 people have been killed in bombings in mainly government-held areas of Syria, state media report.

Four attacks took place within an hour in Tartous, Homs and in a suburb of Damascus, with one in Hassakeh, which is dominated by Kurdish forces.

The deadliest incident was outside Tartous, home to a Russian naval base and in the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect.

The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attacks.

The group made the claim in a statement carried by its affiliated news agency, Amaq.

'Crowd targeted'

The attacks took place between 08:00 and 09:00 (05:00-06:00 GMT) on Monday.

Syria's official Sana news agency reported that 30 civilians had been killed and 45 others injured in the Tartous countryside.

First, a car bomb was detonated on the Arzoneh motorway bridge, a local police source told Sana.

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 IS 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.

Image copyright EPA Image caption The bomb in Homs targeted a military checkpoint, according to the provincial governor

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

One person was 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.

Image copyright EPA Image caption The area targeted in Saboura is home to security officers and their families

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the conflict in Syria through a network of sources, said three of the dead were Kurdish security personnel, known as the Asayish.

The Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) militia took near complete control of the north-eastern city last month after a week of clashes with government troops.

The Syrian Observatory put the total death toll for Monday's attacks at 47.

The attacks came as US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed a ceasefire deal for Syria on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama have so far failed to reach a deal to ease fighting in Syria

Mr Obama said he and Mr Putin had had "productive" discussions and had agreed to continue the search for a comprehensive truce.

The US president said: "Given the gaps of trust that exist, that's a tough negotiation and we haven't yet closed the gaps in a way where we think it would actually work.

"But my instructions to Secretary [of State John] Kerry and Mr Putin's instructions to [Foreign Minister Sergei] Lavrov were to keep working at it over the next several days."

Mr Putin said the talks were "on the right track" and that there was "some alignment" with the US.

It had been hoped a deal on a ceasefire and humanitarian deliveries would be announced jointly by Mr Kerry and Mr Lavrov on Monday, but it was not forthcoming.

The US is particularly concerned by the deteriorating conditions in and around Syria's second city, Aleppo, where rebel-held districts are once again under siege after government forces advanced on Sunday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also at the G20, said he had urged world powers to create a "safe zone" in Syria, with a "no-fly" element, that would help control the flow of migrants.
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.