Syria conflict: IS claims wave of bombings that kills dozens

At least 40 people have been killed in bombings in mainly government-held areas of Syria, state media report.

Four attacks took place within an hour of each other in Tartous, Homs and in a western suburb of Damascus, with one in Hassakeh, dominated by Kurdish forces.
The deadliest incident was outside Tartous, home to a Russian naval base and in the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect.
The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attacks.
The group made the claim in a statement carried by its affiliated news agency, Amaq.

'Crowd targeted'

The attacks took place between 08:00 and 09:00 (05:00-06:00 GMT) on Monday.
Syria's official Sana news agency reported that 30 civilians had been killed and 45 others injured in the Tartous countryside.

First, a car bomb was detonated on the Arzoneh motorway bridge, a local police source told Sana.
Then, as a crowd gathered at the scene to help the wounded, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt, the source added.
Tartous had been relatively unscathed by Syria's five-year civil war until May, when a suicide bomb attack on a bus station by IS militants left dozens dead.
In the central city of Homs, four people were killed and 10 injured when a car bomb exploded at the entrance to the Bab Tadmour district, Sana reported.