32 killed, 90 hurt in bomb blasts in Syria

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says more than 100 fighters in Zabadani, the last rebel bastion on Syria’s border with Lebanon, are headed to Lebanon and Turkey before they will be returned to other parts of Syria.

State television reported two explosions caused by auto bombs and a blast caused by a suicide attacker wearing an explosives-laden belt hit Al-Zahraa’s main square.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

This is the second such attack to rock the city’s Zahra district since a ceasefire deal was enforced earlier this month. Homs was the center of the revolution against Assad’s rule for nearly three years but a Syrian army offensive backed by Russian Federation air strikes has forced rebels to retreat from al-Waer district, the last area of the city that was under their control.

Since the declaration of total annihilation of the Islamic State in Syria, the ordinary people of the country have been living under extremely risky circumstances. The Sunni capture of Idlib left Shia civilians in the villages at risk because of sectarian divisions.

In addition to Zabadani, evacuations began in two Shiite villages in northern Syria where wounded fighters and some civilians will be taken by land to Turkey before boarding a plane that will bring them to Lebanon on their way to Syria.