Beirut: The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility for a spate of bomb attacks across Syria on Monday that left dozens dead in mostly government-controlled territory.
The IS-affiliated Amaq news agency said the jihadist group was behind a "string of simultaneous suicide attacks" in Damascus, coastal Tartus, central Homs, and Hasakeh in the northeast.
At least 48 people died in the blasts, Syrian state media reported, a majority of them in a double bombing in President Bashar al-Assad's coastal stronghold of Tartus.
Quoting the head of Al-Bassel hospital in Tartus, state television said 35 people were killed and 43 others wounded in the attack.
In the northeast of the country, at least eight people were killed by a bomber on a motorbike in Hasakeh city, which is mostly controlled by Kurdish forces, though the regime is also present.
State media said the dead were six members of the Kurds' Asayesh security forces and two civilians.
Amaq said in a statement that a bomber wearing a suicide belt had attacked an Asayesh checkpoint there.
Another four people were killed in a car bomb in Homs city's Al-Zahraa neighbourhood, whose residents mostly belong to the same Alawite sect as Assad.
A bomb attack was also reported on Al-Sabura road west of the capital Damascus, with state media saying one person was killed and three were wounded.
