Bombers, car blow up as Syrians close in

BEIRUT — An explosion claimed by the Islamic State extremist group in the central Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday killed at least four people and wounded more than two dozen, Syria’s state media and the militant group reported.

Homs police commander Lt. Gen. Khaled Hilal told state TV that two suicide attackers detonated their explosives-laden car as they were being surrounded by troops. Along with the four killed, Syrian state TV said 30 people were wounded in the explosion.

The blast in Homs came two days after the government took control of the entire city of Homs, for the first time since the conflict began in 2011, after the evacuation of rebels from their last holdout, the besieged al-Waer neighborhood.

More than six years after the conflict began, most major Syrian cities have at this point reverted to government control. Syria’s civil war has left about 400,000 people dead and has displaced millions.

AP/SANA Syrian security forces and firefighters gather Tuesday at the scene of an explosion in the central city of Homs.