Damascus:At least nine people were killed Monday when a car bomb blast hit a gas factory in Syria`s central province of Homs, a monitoring group said.
Five employees and four guards of the al-Furuklus gas factory were killed in the blast, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said the blast was timed to coincide with the start of the factory`s working hours, according to Xinhua.
The Observatory stopped short of naming the party behind the explosion, but similar attacks were carried by extremist groups, such as the Islamic State or the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA said the factory had not been affected by the blast, and is still operating.
Citing a military source, SANA said the Syrian troops captured the two "terrorists" who had detonated the bomb.
Over 190,000 people have been killed and millions of others displaced in the Syria crisis, which has become more complicated after radical groups began capitalising on the chaotic situation to achieve territorial gains.
