Russian condemns attacks in Syria, calls for global action

Group has claimed for the blasts.

The attacks outside Damascus and in Homs occurred in areas where there are many supporters of the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Inside the Hamidiyeh Souk, a popular bazaar which is typically crowded with shoppers on any given day, people said they were anxious that a ceasefire would not be evenly observed and could leave the Syrian authorities vulnerable.

Video from SANA showed burned-out vehicles and damaged buildings around a crater in the street where one of the blasts took place.

Some sources put the death toll higher.

IS said online that two suicide bombers struck in Sayyida Zeinab and two others drove explosive-packed cars into crowds in Homs.

The bombs detonated outside a Shiite hospital near the shrine. Pro-Iranian militias who have come to the aid of al-Assad’s overstretched forces have boasted that they are defending the shrine.

More than 250,000 people have been killed, more than 1 million injured and the majority of Syrians displaced since the country’s civil war began in 2011, according to the United Nations.

“The modalities for a cessation of hostilities are now being completed”, Kerry said, adding that it was “possible over the course of these next hours”.

Moscow, whose air force has enabled Syrian government forces to make major gains in recent weeks, confirmed that the two sides had “agreed additional parameters for the ceasefire regime in Syria“.

“We are convinced that such abhorrent criminal acts need adequate… reaction from the global community”, the Russian ministry said in an online statement.

He said the US would speak to the Syrian opposition and its key backers Saudi Arabia and Turkey while Russian Federation, which has played a decisive military role in boosting Mr. Assad since the end of September, would talk to the regime and its main regional backer Iran. However, that date passed with no truce coming into effect.

State media say 34 people died.

It is important to effectively thwart further attempts of the Islamic State (IS), the Nusra Front and other terrorist groups, which are betting on further aggravation of the situation in Syria and the whole region, to further incite sectarian strife, the statement said.

Syria’s main opposition group said on February 20 it was open to the possibility of a truce.

Inside Story – Syria war: Will cessation of hostilities lead to talks?

Kerry declined to go into the details of the agreement, saying it “is not yet done” and that it largely awaited a conversation between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin to work out final details.

Syrians tend to be more interested in battling government forces than helping the Islamic State build its “caliphate”, which spans parts of eastern Syria and northern Iraq.