Bomb blast leaves 4 people dead in Syria’s Homs

A bomb explosion has rocked Syria’s western city of Homs, killing four people and injuring others. State television said in a breaking news alert that a bomb exploded close to a Red Cross center in the Zahraa district on Thursday. “Four civilians were killed and several others wounded, some of them seriously,” it added. The mainly Alawite Zahraa neighborhood has witnessed regular blasts since 2011, when the conflict broke out in Syria. Back in September, an explosion at the entrance to the same district left four people dead. Another double bomb attack, which was claimed by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, also killed 57 people in the Zahraa neighborhood in February. The Syrian government controls all but one district in the city of Homs, as well as much of the surrounding province with the same name. The ancient city of Palmyra, also situated in Homs Province, fell to Daesh last week. It was the second time that terrorists seized the city as it was occupied for some 10 months before its liberation in March. The Syrian forces are conducting operations to drive foreign-backed militants out of Palmyra. In a Wednesday interview with the Russian TV channels, Russia 24 and NTV, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the attack on Palmyra was aimed at undermining the importance of the Aleppo liberation. He also vowed Palmyra’s recapture, saying, “In the end, as we liberated Palmyra in the past, we will liberate it again. It was under Daesh control and the Syrian army, with Russian support, liberated it. We will do that again.”