This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-38520089

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Syria: Bomb 'kills nine' in government-held town of Jableh Syria conflict: Car bomb kills 11 in government-held town
(about 3 hours later)
A bomb has killed at least nine people in the government-held coastal town of Jableh, Syrian state TV is reporting. A car bomb attack has killed at least 11 civilians in a Syrian government-held coastal town, state media report.
It said 25 people were hurt, blaming the attack on a suicide bomber. Thirty-five others were injured by the blast in a commercial area crowded with people near the municipal stadium in Jableh, the Sana news agency said.
Scores of cars were on fire and shops were damaged by the blast in a busy commercial part of the town, the TV reports said. Three was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.
Last May, 150 people died in attacks claimed by so-called Islamic State (IS) in the area, a bastion of President Bashar Assad's Alawite minority. Last May, 45 people died in attacks in the town claimed by so-called Islamic State (IS) that targeted President Bashar Assad's minority Alawite sect.
It is not yet clear who might have been behind the latest attack. Footage from the scene of Thursday's attack broadcast by state television showed charred, mangled cars, damage to shops, and pools of blood on the road.
A ceasefire brokered by Turkey and Russia has been in place in Syria since last Thursday, although several rebel groups have complained about "many big breaches" by the Syrian government. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, put the death toll at 15.
But the deal excludes IS and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra Front), according to the Syrian army, though rebels dispute this. It also excludes the Syrian Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) militia. The bombing happened despite a week-old nationwide truce, which excludes IS and the rival jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham - known as al-Nusra Front until it broke off formal ties with al-Qaeda in July - as well as the Syrian Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) militia.
The initiative, negotiated by Turkey and Russia, is aimed at restarting peace talks in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, later this month.
However, several rebel groups said on Tuesday that they were halting preparations for the talks, complaining of major breaches of the truce by the government.
Water crisis
On Thursday, UN humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said there remained "tremendous dramas" for the country's civilian population, especially in Damascus were 5.5 million people have had their water supplies cut or severely reduced.
Rebel and government officials have accused each other of cutting the flow of water from Wadi Barada, a valley in the hills north-west of the capital that is the location of several springs.
Troops and Iranian-backed militiamen are trying to recapture the valley. The government says fighters from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham are present there - something rebel groups have denied.
Mr Egeland said the consequences for the population were "dramatic", with emergency efforts in place to supply water to schools, hospitals and bakeries.
He also said the government had denied the UN's requests for access for aid convoys for five of 21 locations they planned to visit in January.
Turkey and Russia, he added, had pledged to facilitate humanitarian access across the country as part of the truce.
The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, meanwhile said the Astana talks should aim to consolidate the truce and pave the way for UN-backed negotiations in Geneva in February.
He said the UN's new Secretary General, Antionio Gutteres, had been involved in internal "brainstorming" on the Syria crisis.