Bomb blasts in Syrian cities leave 140 dead

PanARMENIAN.Net - Bomb blasts in the Syrian cities of Homs and Damascus left at least 140 people dead, according to BBC News.

At least four blasts struck Sunday, Feb 21, the southern Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, killing at least 83 people, state media said. Earlier in Homs, 57 people, mainly civilians, were killed in a double car bombing, a monitoring group reported.

So-called Islamic State (IS) said it carried out the attacks in both cities.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said a "provisional agreement" has been reached with Russia on a partial truce in the conflict.

Both of Sunday's attacks targeted areas dominated by minorities within Islam reviled by the Sunni Muslim radicals of IS.

In Damascus, at least four explosions were reported in Sayyida Zeinab, the location of Syria's holiest Shia Muslim shrine, said to contain the grave of the Prophet Muhammad's granddaughter.

The state-run Sana news agency reported at least 83 dead and 178 wounded.

The Amaq news agency, which is linked to Islamic State, said IS militants had detonated a car bomb and then blown up explosive belts. The district was hit by suicide attacks last month that left 71 people dead and which IS fighters also said they had carried out.

In Homs, the blasts happened in a predominantly Alawite district, the sect to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs. Syrian state TV footage showed debris and mangled vehicles.