Syria: Car Bomb In Homs Kills At Least 15

Fifteen people have been killed in a car bomb attack in Syria, state media has reported.

"A terrorist attack struck the (government-held) Hamra district of Homs," the Sana news agency said, adding that a further 24 people had been wounded.

Amateur video footage posted online by opposition activists showed the bodies of at least three victims, including a woman buried in the rubble of a building as a car burned not far away.

Another video showed a car turned upside down on a pavement, as other vehicles blazed nearby.

A third video showed an injured child lying in hospital, crying in pain.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fewer casualties.

"At least seven civilians were killed in a car bomb explosion near the sports stadium," it said, adding that many of the wounded were in a critical condition so the death toll was likely to rise.

Homs is Syria's third largest city and was one of the cradles of the armed uprising against the rule of President Bashar al Assad.

The city suffered devastating violence early this year but for the past six months the army has kept mainly Sunni Arab rebel-held districts around the centre under siege rather than launching an all-out assault.