Syrian opposition activists say twin bomb blasts in northwestern city of Idlib have killed at least 10 people

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian opposition activists say twin bomb blasts in northwestern city of Idlib have killed at least 10 people. </s> BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 18 people were killed and tens more injured, including civilians, in an explosion in Syria’s northwestern city of Idlib, a war monitor reported on Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the explosion targeted the headquarters of an opposition faction in Idlib. It was not immediately clear what the nature of the attack was. </s> BEIRUT - An explosion killed 11 people and wounded more than 80 on Monday in the rebel-controlled Syrian city of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.



The British-based war monitoring group said the source of the blast was unclear.



The Civil Defence in Idlib, a rescue service that operates in rebel territory, gave the death toll as at least 10 civilians with 110 others injured. It caused damage in four buildings, one of them entirely.



The northwestern Idlib region remains the largest populated area of Syria in the hands of insurgents fighting the Damascus government, including both jihadist factions and nationalist FSA rebels. The dominant force there is Hayat Tahrir al Sham, an Islamist alliance spearheaded by the former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.



Tens of thousands of fighters and civilians have poured into Idlib in recent years, after leaving other parts of the country which the army recaptured with the help of Russia and Iran. ( </s> An explosion that collapsed a building in an opposition-held area of northern Syrian city has killed 31 people, according to activists Tuesday.

The cause of the blast that hit Idlib city on Monday, killing 22 civilians and an estimated nine militiamen, had yet to be ascertained, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British war monitor, said. </s> Transcript for Deadly twin bomb attacks in Syria kill at least 40 people

And overseas tonight, the deadly twin bomb attacks in Syria, explosions ripping through the center of Damascus, at least 40 people killed. 120 wounded. The attacks targeting holy sites. Here's Jennifer Eccleston. Reporter: The bloody debris from the blasts litter the streets of Damascus. Buses riddled with shrapnel, a mangled wheelchair among the wreckage. The attackers striking Shiite tourists from Iraq, visiting a holy site. At least 40 are dead. More than 100 injured. This Iraqi lucky to be alive. "We finished the visit and then the explosions happened," he says. People near me were all killed. No one has yet to claim responsibility. But ISIS has attacked shia -- Shiite she rinse in the Syrian capital before. More than 60 people died in a bombing last year. Damascus is Syrian president bashar Al Assad's power base. These attacks may only serve to further embolden terrorist organizations in the region, Rebecca. Jennifer, thank you. </s> 13 people, including 10 civilians were killed, more than 25 others were injured after two bomb-laden vehicles exploded on a busy street in Syria's northwestern Idlib city center during rush hour, reports said Monday.

Both explosions reportedly took place on Al-Qusoor Street, reports said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the blasts killed 13 people and wounded 25.

The Edlib Media Center, an activist collective, said the bombings killed 10 and wounded dozens.

The first blast occurred in the early afternoon and another followed seconds later. The opposition's Syrian Civil Defense, a group of volunteer first responders, said one of its members was wounded.

The Syrian Civil Defense group, which arrived at the scene of the incident as response units, noted that the second explosion resulted in numerous casualties as it took place near an area with many civilians.

The city of Idlib is controlled by al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which has wide influence in northern Syria.

The city has been hit with bombings in recent months that killed or wounded scores of people. </s> At least 23 people were killed on Sunday, including seven civilians, and dozens injured after a powerful explosion aimed against the headquarters of an Islamic insurgent group in the city of Idlib, in northwestern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Amongst the injured there are serious and critical cases, which could increase the death toll in the next few hours, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights warned.

The organization could not determine whether the explosion was triggered by a regular bomb or a car bomb.

The target of the attack was the headquarters of the armed group "Soldiers of the Caucasus," one of the Islamic fundamentalist rebel groups operating in Idlib which is made up of fighters from Central Asia.

Rescue teams were transferring the wounded and the dead bodies and continuing the task to rescue those who are trapped under the rubble following the explosion.

The province is controlled almost entirely by the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant, an alliance created by al-Qaeda's former Syrian branch and other armed groups who are fighting against the forces loyal to the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. </s> Twin explosions in the bustling centre of the rebel-held northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on Monday killed at least 15 people and injured scores, medics and witnesses said.

They said an explosive device planted in a parked car detonated in a main street in the provincial capital. Many of the casualties were civil defence workers who reached the site moments before a second explosion nearby. That blast was attributed by some witnesses to a bomb rigged to a motorcyle.

Idlib province, in Syria’s northwest corner, is under the control of Hayat Tahrir al Sham, a bloc of Islamist militant factions spearheaded by Syria’s former al Qaeda affiliate, and has long been targeted by bombings and assassinations.

Alliance commanders say they hundreds of people have been rounded up for suspected links to Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s intelligence services or Islamic State sleeper cells who they blame for some of the bombings.

They say the wave of blasts in the densely populated region, a haven for tens of thousands of civilians opposed to Assad’s rule, aims to destabilise the last opposition bastion remaining after almost eight years of civil war.

Idlib, which borders Turkey, has also seen an escalation in artillery fire from the Syrian army and allied Iranian-backed militias on rebel-held towns, witnesses said.

Damascus has vowed to retake every last inch of Syria to cap a string of military gains in the last two years that have recovered almost all rebel-controlled regions with the key assistance of Russian air power.

Russia is keen to help Assad regain the entire country, including eventually Idlib, but Tukey, which wants the Syrian leader to leave power, has so far successfully pushed back.

Last week President Vladimir Putin said Russia, Turkey and Iran had agreed to take unspecified extra steps to clear Idlib of what he called “a hotbed of terrorists,” but the Kremlin said there would be no military operation there. </s> An explosion of unknown origin at a weapons depot Sunday in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib killed at least 69 civilians including 17 children, in addition to scores of injuries.

Mustafa Hajj Yusuf, the head of Idlib Civil Defense, earlier acknowledged the death toll at least as 39 dead and 45 injured. He later told Anadolu Agency that search and rescue operation was concluded as of Monday morning and 17 civilians, mostly women and children, were pulled under the rubble. The number of the injured stands at 50.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed the casualty toll on Monday.

An AFP correspondent at the site in the opposition-held town of Sarmada near the Turkish border said the explosion caused two buildings to collapse.

On Sunday morning, rescue workers used a bulldozer to remove rubble and extract trapped people, the correspondent said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, earlier said the death toll could rise as dozens were still missing.

"The explosion occurred in a weapons depot in a residential building in Sarmada," the head of the Britain based monitor said. But the cause of the blast was "not yet clear", Abdel Rahman added.

A rescue worker carried the motionless body of a small child from the wreckage to an ambulance, the AFP correspondent said.

Behind mounds of rubble, the facade of a building was scorched black, due to a fire after the blast.

A civil defense source told AFP that women and children were among the dead.

But rescue workers had pulled out "five people who were still alive", the source said.

Most of Idlib is controlled by Turkish backed opposition fighters, while parts of it are controlled by terrorist groups led by al-Qaida linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, but the Daesh terror group also has sleeper cells in the area.

In recent months, a series of explosions and assassinations -- mainly targeting opposition officials and fighters -- have rocked the province.

While some attacks have been claimed by Daesh, most are the result of infighting since last year between various other groups.

In recent days, regime forces have ramped up their deadly bombardment of southern Idlib and sent reinforcements to nearby areas they control.

Bashar al-Assad has warned that regime forces intend to retake Idlib, after his regime regained control of swathes of opposition held territory elsewhere.

Around 2.5 million people live in the province, half of them displaced by fighting in other parts of the country.

More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's civil war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
Twin explosions in Idlib, Syria, kill 24 people and injure more than 20.