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Update: Car bomb kills 20 in Syria's Homs after rebels left last stronghold

Xinhua, December 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

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 west of Homs, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported.

A booby-trapped car tore through the pro-government al-Zahra'a neighborhood 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 a UN mediation, by which the militants left their positions in al-Waer neighborhood, the last rebel stronghold west of Homs.

The Syrian cabinet condemned the Homs bombing as a "cowardly terrorist attack" in retaliation against the local reconciliations 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," according to a statement. Endit