A large car bomb exploded near a hospital in the central Syrian city of Homs on Saturday, killing 16 people and wounding dozens, the Provincial Governor said.
Talal Barazi said the blast, which hit the neighbourhood of Al-Zahraa — where most residents belong to the same Alawite sect as President Bashar al-Assad — killed 16 civilians and wounded at least 64. A medical source in the city, who did not give his name because he was not authorised to speak to the press, gave the same death toll but said 100 people were wounded.
The attack comes just three days after hundreds of rebel fighters and civilians were evacuated from the city after a deal with Syria’s regime.
The deal, overseen by the United Nations, will see Homs’ last rebel-held neighbourhood, Waer, turned over to government forces in exchange for humanitarian aid for besieged residents.