Car bomb kills 20 in Syria`s Homs

The blast, which hit the neighbourhood of Al-Zahraa -- where most residents belong to the same Alawite sect as President Bashar al-Assad -- killed 15 civilians and wounded at least 64.

Damascus: At least 20 people were killed and tens of others wounded in a car bomb attack in Syria`s central city of Homs on Saturday, just days after a deal ended the rebel existence in their last stronghold, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported.

A booby-trapped car tore through the pro-government al-Zahra neighbourhood of Homs, an area that has seen several bombings as it`s home to the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiism, to whom the ruling elite in Syria belongs.

Saturday`s bombing came just days after the government and the rebels reached an agreement under UN mediation, by which the militants left their positions in al-Waer neighbourhood, the last rebel stronghold west of Homs.

The Syrian cabinet condemned the Homs bombing as a "cowardly terrorist attack" in retaliation against the reconciliation in Homs province.

Such terrorist attacks "will not succeed in intimidating the Syrians off the reconciliation track, but will rather boost their determination to continue fighting terrorism and consolidating national unity," said a statement.