Car bomb kills 9, injures 25 in western Syria

LATAKIA, Syria

At least nine civilians were killed and another 25 injured on Thursday when a powerful car bomb shook the coastal city of Jableh in Syria’s western Latakia province, according to Syria’s official SANA news agency.

"Terrorists detonated a car bomb next to the municipal stadium on the outskirts of Jableh’s Al-Amara district," the news agency reported.

SANA quoted an official from Latakia’s health department as saying that Jableh’s general hospital had received the nine victims’ bodies and was currently treating those injured by the blast.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Last May 23, multiple simultaneous bombings targeted different parts of the same city, leaving scores of civilians dead and injured.

Jableh is currently held by Assad regime forces, as are most of Syria’s coastal cities and towns, which have enjoyed relatively stability during the almost six-year conflict.

*Reporting by Alaa Walid; Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg