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Syria war: Deadly blasts hit government and Kurdish areas Syria conflict: Dozens killed in bombings on government-held areas
(about 1 hour later)
At least 20 people have been killed in a string of explosions in government- and Kurdish-held areas of Syria, state media say. At least 40 people have been killed in four bombings in government-held areas of Syria and one in a city dominated by Kurdish forces, state media report.
Blasts hit the coastal city of Tartous, the central city of Homs, Damascus, and Kurdish-controlled north-eastern city of Hassakeh, reports say. The attacks took place between 08:00 and 09:00 (05:00-06:00 GMT) around Damascus, Homs, Tartous and Hassakeh. It was not clear if they were linked.
Most were killed in the attacks in Tartous, home to the main Russian airbase in Syria. The deadliest incident was outside Tartous, on the Mediterranean coast.
The city was last hit by bombings in May by so-called Islamic State (IS). Tartous, which hosts a Russian naval base, is a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect.
A car bomb first exploded and as rescue workers approached to aid victims, a suicide bomber detonated his vest, state media reported. A news agency affiliated to the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the Hassakeh attack, which allegedly targeted Kurdish militiamen.
Another car bomb hit a checkpoint in Homs, killing two, and five people were killed in the explosion in Hassakeh, initial reports said. 'Crowd targeted'
Meanwhile, talks between the US and Russia on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China have failed to reach agreement on a temporary ceasefire in Syria, US officials said. Syria's official Sana news agency reported that 30 civilians were killed and 45 others injured in the Tartous countryside on Monday morning.
However Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barak Obama agreed they would continue to search for a comprehensive ceasefire deal, the Associated Press news agency quoted an unnamed senior US official as saying. First, a car bomb was detonated on the Arzoneh motorway bridge, a local police source was cited as saying. Then, as a crowd gathered at the scene to help the wounded, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt, the source added.
The two sides have been trying to agree on terms for a partial ceasefire which would enable aid to be delivered to government-besieged areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo. 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 almost dozens dead.
In the central city of Homs, four civilians were killed and 10 injured when a car bomb exploded at the entrance to the Bab Tadmour district, Sana reported.
The blast damaged a number of nearby homes and set cars alight, it added.
One person was meanwhile killed in a bombing on the Sabboura-Bajja road outside Damascus, a police source told Sana.
In Hassakeh, an explosives-packed motorcycle was blown up at a roundabout, killing five civilians and injuring two others, Sana said.
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 for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the conflict in Syria through a network of sources, put Monday's death toll at 47.