Damascus bombings: At least 30 killed in four bomb attacks

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has told Russia’s defense minister that the Syrian conflict can only be resolved through a political process. He said he hoped U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin would talk soon and that implementation could then begin. It did not elaborate.

The attacks in Homs happened in a predominantly Alawite district, the minority sect to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) – Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that a “provisional agreement” has been reached on a Syrian cease-fire that could begin in the next few days, but he acknowledged that it’s not finalized and all parties might not automatically comply.

Russia also has a contract with Iran to deliver long-range S-300 air defense missiles, and Tehran has expressed interest in other Russian weapons such as Su-30 fighter jets. SANA said the bombs went off near schools during the afternoon rush hour.

Footage from Sayyida Zeinab showing people running in narrow streets as others carried the wounded, including several children.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a triple blast in a Damascus suburb that killed at least 22 people. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on local Syrian activists, said the blasts killed 62. Another 180 people were wounded, the Observatory said.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the bombing was aimed at derailing the ongoing peace talks between Damascus and rebel forces, and called on the UN Security Council to condemn the attack.

The death toll is now being verified.

Sayyida Zeinab is home to one of Shiite Islam’s holiest shrines.

The blasts in Damascus came just hours after dozens of civilians were killed in Homs, despite announcements suggesting that a temporary ceasefire in Syria is closer than ever.

In northern Syria, meanwhile, the Syrian army captured 31 villages on Sunday that were controlled by IS, according to the pro-Syrian Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV and Hezbollah’s Al-Manar station. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reports two blasts near al-Sadr hospital, saying they inflicted casualties.

A series of explosions in the Syrian cities of Homs and Damascus have left dozens of people dead, monitors and state media say.

The aftermath of a powerful vehicle bomb explosion near the headquarters of Syria’s ruling Baath party.

Homs, one of the early centres of the uprising against President Assad, was once dubbed the “capital of the revolution”.