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Blasts kill at least 140 in western Syria: Monitor

Monday, 23 May 2016 7:54 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 23 May 2016 3:28 PM ]

People inspect the damage after explosions hit the Syrian city of Tartous, in this handout picture provided by SANA on May 23, 2016. (Reuters)

Seven bomb explosions have rocked the coastal cities of Tartous and Jableh in western Syria, leaving at least 148people dead, a London-based monitor says.

In Jableh, the attacks took the lives of at least 100 people and left scores of others injured on Monday morning, the Syrian Observatory for Human rights said.

At least 48 people were killed in Tartous and many others injured in almost simultaneous bombings.

According to the report, one of the explosions occurred near a hospital when a bomber detonated his explosive vest.

A firefighter tries to put out a fire from a burning car after explosions hit the Syrian city of Tartous, in this handout picture provided by SANA on May 23, 2016. (Reuters photo)

Daesh claimed responsibility for the bombings. The Takfiri group, which is controlling parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq, has repeatedly targeted civilian structures like hospitals and schools.

Rights groups have documented numerous cases of such bombings and attacks over the past months.

Physicians for Human Rights said in a recent research that militants had carried out about a dozen attacks on medical facilities, with Daesh being responsible for at least eight of them in which more than a dozen medical staff had been killed.

Syria has been gripped by a foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.

According to UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, more than 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has also displaced over half of the country’s population of about 23 million.

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