IS blamed for double suicide blast in Homs

The Islamic State group has claimed a double suicide bomb blast at an army checkpoint in the Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday, according to state-run TV.

At least 24 people were killed in the blast which hit a mainly Alawite district of the government-controlled city.

State television said 100 people had also been injured in the blasts in the Al-Zahraa area of the city, which has been targeted in bomb attacks several times before.

Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi told the AFP news agency that a first suicide bomber detonated explosives while in a car at the checkpoint, and a second set off another blast a few moments later.

"We know we are targets for terrorists, especially now the (Syrian) army is advancing and local reconciliation agreements are being implemented," Barazi told the Reuters agency on Tuesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, also reported the blasts, saying at least 21 people had been killed, among them 13 Syrian soldiers.

The group's director Rami Abdel Rahman said the second suicide bomber had been wearing military clothes.

Reports suggested a "double tap" attack where the second explosion targeted people attending to those injured in the first.

The Al-Zahraa district of Homs has been targeted in multiple bomb attacks, including in late December, when 19 people were killed in several simultaneous blasts.

The majority of people in Al-Zahraa belong to the Alawite sect, to which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also belongs.

Though an opposition stronghold following the outbreak of unrest in 2011, the city was recaptured by government forces in 2014 after years of intensive fighting.

Opposition forces still held out under siege in Homs' old city until December, when they withdrew under the terms of a UN ceasefire.

The Waer district is the only district still in rebel hands, but it is being gradually turned over to the government under the agreement.