Blasts in Syria Kill 6 as Aleppo Mostly Calm After Truce

DAMASCUS, Syria— Two blasts struck a central Syrian village Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens, hours after a truce brought relative calm to the northern city of Aleppo after weeks of escalating violence there.The governor of H...
Blasts in Syria Kill 6 as Aleppo Mostly Calm After Truce
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a firefighter tries to extinguish a fire at the scene where one of the rockets hit the Dubeet hospital in the central neighborhood of Muhafaza in Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. Shells and mortar rounds are raining down on every neighborhood Aleppo," said Aleppo-based health official Mohammad Hazouri, speaking from Al-Razi hospital. SANA via AP
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DAMASCUS, Syria—Two blasts struck a central Syrian village Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens, hours after a truce brought relative calm to the northern city of Aleppo after weeks of escalating violence there.

The governor of Homs, Talal Barrazi, told The Associated Press that the blasts were trigged by a car bomb and a suicide attacker wearing an explosive belt who detonated his device in the village of Mukharam al-Fawkani. The village is east of the central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the twin attacks. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for similar attacks in Homs province in recent months that killed scores of people.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 10 people were killed in the twin blasts, adding that more than 40 were wounded.

Differing casualty figures are not uncommon in the immediate aftermaths of explosions.

The violence came as the northern city of Aleppo witnessed relative calm as U.S. officials announced late Wednesday that an agreement had been reached with Russia to extend Syria’s fragile cease-fire to the deeply contested northern city. The Syrian military said the truce, which began at 12:01 a.m. Thursday (5 p.m. Wednesday EDT), would last only 48 hours.