Car bomb kills at least 34 in Syria's Hama: state media

DAMASCUS - Agence France-Presse

Syrian security forces inspect the site of a car bomb attack in Homs' Akrameh district, a majority Alawite neighbourhood, on June 19, 2014. AFP Photo

A car bomb claimed by rebels killed at least 34 people on Friday in a government-controlled village in the central Syrian province of Hama, state news agency SANA reported.
      
More than 50 people were wounded in the attack in Al-Horra, SANA said, blaming the attack on rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
      
The Islamic Front, a rebel coalition, claimed responsibility. It said on Twitter that a radio-controlled bomb had targeted a "gathering of Assad militia."       

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 37 people were killed, including civilians as well as security personnel, and more than 40 wounded.
      
On Thursday, a car bomb exploded in the city of Homs, to the south of Hama, killing at least six people in a neighbourhood populated by Alawites, the Islamic sect to which Assad belongs.
      
No one claimed responsibility for what was the second attack in Homs -- Syria's third largest city -- in less than a week, but state television blamed it on rebels.