ISIL attack near hospital in Syria’s Homs kills 16

DAMASCUS – Agence France-Presse

AFP photo

A powerful car bomb exploded near a hospital in the central Syrian city of Homs on Dec. 12, killing 16 people and wounding dozens, the provincial governor and a monitoring group said.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) said in a statement that it was behind the attack, and said it consisted of a car bombing and a suicide bomber blowing himself up.

Homs Governor Talal Barazi said the attack near the Al-Ahli hospital, in the Al-Zahraa neighborhood where most residents belong to the same Alawite sect as President Bashar al-Assad, killed 16 people.

Another 54 were wounded, some seriously, and being treated at hospitals throughout the city.

The vehicle used in the attack had been carrying at least 150 kilos of explosives, Barazi added.

In its statement, ISIL named the bomber as Abu Ahmed al-Homsi, and said he parked the car and detonated it before then activating his explosives belt.

ISIL said the toll from the attack was more than 25 dead, with 70 wounded.

Firefighters, security forces and dozens of other men packed into the residential street where the blast occurred, searching for victims and seeking to rescue the injured.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said 16 people were killed and dozens wounded, adding that some were in critical condition.  

The attack comes just three days after hundreds of rebel fighters and civilians were evacuated from the city following a deal with the regime.  

The deal, overseen by the United Nations, will see Homs’ last rebel-held neighborhood, Waer, turned over to government forces in exchange for humanitarian aid for besieged residents.  

“The explosion was terrifying. Body parts were on the ground... It was one of the biggest explosions to hit Homs,” a 28-year-old woman working in a neighborhood coffee shop told AFP.  

“The blast left a huge crater, and people were running in every direction in fear of more explosions,” she added.  

Syria’s government condemned the attack, calling it a “cowardly terrorist explosion.” 

“These terrorist explosions will not discourage the Syrian people from national reconciliation and fighting terrorism,” said Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi in comments carried by state news agency SANA. 

Once known as the capital of Syria’s revolution, Homs will be under the full control of the regime by the end of January 2016.  

The Britain-based Observatory and local activist groups said a UN convoy carrying humanitarian aid had been due to enter Waer on Dec. 12, but there was no confirmation from UN representatives in Damascus. 

More than 250,000 people have been killed in Syria’s conflict since it erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests.