ISIS suicide bomber detonates himself in a crowd as people gather at the scene of a car bomb in Homs

This is the shocking moment an ISIS suicide bomber blows himself up in a crowd which had gathered at the scene of a car bomb he detonated seconds earlier, killing at least 16 people.

The twin blasts happened near a hospital in the central Syrian city of Homs on Saturday.

Another 54 were wounded, some seriously, in the attack in the Al-Zahraa neighbourhood and were being treated at hospitals throughout the city.

The vehicle used in the attack was carrying at least 150kg of explosives, said Governor Talal Barazi.

In its statement, ISIS named the bomber as Abu Ahmed al-Homsi and said he parked the car and detonated it before then activating his explosives belt.

ISIS said the toll from the attack was more than 25 dead, with 70 wounded.

Firefighters, security forces and dozens of other men packed into the residential street where the blast occurred, searching for victims and seeking to rescue the injured.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said 16 people were killed and dozens wounded, adding that some were in critical condition.

The attack comes days after hundreds of rebel fighters and civilians were evacuated from the city following a deal with the regime.

The deal, overseen by the United Nations, will see Homs’s last rebel-held neighbourhood, Waer, turned over to government forces in exchange for humanitarian aid for besieged residents.

‘The explosion was terrifying. Body parts were on the ground… it was one of the biggest explosions to hit Homs,’ a 28-year-old woman working in a neighbourhood coffee shop told AFP.

‘The blast left a huge crater, and people were running in every direction in fear of more explosions,’ she added.

Syria’s government condemned the attack, calling it a ‘cowardly terrorist explosion’.

‘These terrorist explosions will not discourage the Syrian people from national reconciliation and fighting terrorism,’ said Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi in comments carried by state news agency SANA.

Once known as the capital of Syria’s revolution, Homs will be under the full control of the regime by the end of January.

Source: Daily Mail