Blasts in Syrian coastal cities kill 74 people
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E-mail Xinhua, May 23, 2016
At least 74 people were killed on Monday when several bombings rocked two Syrian coastal cities, state media reported.
As many as 45 people were killed when four blasts ripped through the city of Jableh in the countryside of the coastal city of Latakia, the national Syrian TV reported.
Two of the bombings rocked the gates of the main bus station in Jableh, said the report, adding that the third occurred near the electricity directorate, while the fourth was caused by a suicide bomber who detonated himself at the emergency room of the National Hospital in Jableh.
Another report said the bomber followed the injured from the previous blasts into the hospital and detonated his explosive belt to cause as many causalities as possible.
The report said the number of injured people is high, some are in critical conditions.
Following the Jableh blasts, four bombings rocked the coastal city of Tartus, which is only 100 km from Latakia.
The national TV said three bombings took place near a bus station in Tartus city and were caused by suicide bombers and a car bomb.
It said a pickup truck went off at the gate of the bus station, while two suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts inside the station.
The fourth blast was caused by a suicide bombing at the Assad Suburb near the bus station in Tartus.
The TV placed the death toll of the Tartus blast at more than 20, while the Sham FM radio cited medical sources as saying that over 29 people were killed in Tartus bombings.
The blasts are considered the first to hit Tartus and Jableh, which have remained largely calm during the country's five-year-old conflict.
The state TV said the Turkey-backed Ahrar al-Sham were behind the bombings.
Observers believe the bombings came as a retaliatory move for the recent military campaign against the main rebel bastions in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus.
The Syrian army has mounted a crushing offensive in Ghouta against key rebel bastions, taking advantage of a rebel infighting in that area.
The bombings came as a message to the regime on the rebels' ability to strike in its main strongholds, as Tartus and Latakia are both bastions of the Syrian administration of President Bashar al-Assad.
Latakia also contains the Hmaimim airbase, which has been used by the Russian air force as a base to launch airstrikes against radical rebel groups.
Tartus also contain a Russian naval base.
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