Multiple bomb blasts across Syria plays havoc
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DAMASCUS: (APP) A string of bomb attacks hit across mostly government-controlled areas of Syria Monday, killing several dozen people including at least 35 in President Bashar al-Assad's coastal stronghold of Tartus, state media said.
At least 48 people died in the multiple blasts, with dozens also wounded in the double bombing outside of Tartus city, which is home to a Russian naval base.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the blasts, but the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has regularly targeted several of the areas hit on Monday.
Other attacks hit government-held Homs city, an army checkpoint on a road outside Damascus, and a Kurdish security forces checkpoint in Hasakeh city.
In Tartus, two blasts targeted the Arzuna bridge, "the first a car bomb and the second a suicide bomber who detonated his explosive belt when people gathered to help the wounded", according to state television.
Quoting the head of Al-Bassel hospital in Tartus, the channel said 35 people had been killed and 43 others wounded in the attack.
Tartus has been largely spared the worst violence of Syria's conflict since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011.
It has become a refuge for many Syrians fleeing the fighting that has displaced over half the country's population.
In the northeast of the country, at least eight people were killed by a bomber on a bike in the city of Hasakeh, which is mostly controlled by Kurdish forces, though the regime is also present.
Syrian state media said the dead were six members of the Asayesh security forces and two civilians.
Hasakeh city has been regularly targeted by IS, including in July when a motorcycle bomber killed at least 16 people outside a bakery in the city.
The IS-linked Amaq news agency reported the blast in Hasakeh, but did not carry any immediate claim of responsibility.
