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9 killed in blast targeting gas factory in Syria's Homs

29 December 2014 23:04 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Nine state servants were killed Monday when a car bomb blast struck near a gas factory in Syria's central province of Homs, a monitoring group reported, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Five employees and four guards of the al-Furuklus gas factory were killed due to the blast, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said the blast was timed to coincide with the start of the factory's working hours.

The Observatory stopped short of naming the party behind the explosion, but similar attacks were carried by extremist groups, such as the Islamic State militants or the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA said the factory had not been affected by the blast, and is still operating.

Citing a military source, SANA said the Syrian troops captured the two "terrorists" who had detonated the car while attempting to flee.

Over 190,000 people have been killed and millions of others displaced inside and outside the country as a result of the Syria crisis, which has become more complicated when radical groups capitalized on the chaotic situation to achieve territorial gains.