Two people were killed and 11 others injured in a suicide bomb attack in Syria’s Hama on Thursday, reported the Syrian state news agency, SANA.

State television said the attacker set off an explosive belt at a bus station in the southwest of the city.

The governor of Hama, Dr Mohammed Al Hzouri, said the explosion took place during rush hour, when the station was full of commuters.

“We also found two other bombs in the bus station, but they were safely dismantled,” he told SANA.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion in Hama, where just last month Syrian president Bashar Al Assad performed Eid Al Fitr prayers in a mosque.

On Sunday, a bomb killed 20 people and wounded dozens more in Damascus. The Syrian capital has enjoyed relative security in recent years even as the multi-sided conflict rages on.

Still, since the start of the year, several blasts have struck the capital as well as the city of Homs, which is also under the control of Mr Al Assad’s government fighting rebel groups in the six-year war.

Separate suicide bomb attacks that hit Damascus in March were claimed by ISIL and an Islamist insurgent alliance called Tahrir Al Sham, which includes Al Qaeda’s former Syrian branch.

With the help of Russia and Iranian-backed militias, Damascus has gained the military advantage over the rebels, including some supported by Turkey, the US and Gulf monarchies. The Assad government has shored up its rule over Syria’s main urban centres in the populated west of the country.

Since a Moscow-led de-escalation plan began in May, Syrian government forces and their allies have focused their energies on battling the ultra-hardline ISIL group.

Source: thenational.ae