A series of explosions hit government-held territories across Syria on Monday, killing 18 people in rare back-to-back attacks, state-run media reported.
A car bomb in the central city of Homs around 7:30 a.m. killed two people and injured seven. An hour later, five people were killed in a blast in the northeastern city of Hasakah and 11 were killed by a car bomb and an explosives belt in separate attacks in the coastal city of Tartus, according to state-run television.
There was no immediate claim for the attacks, which follow government advances in Aleppo against rebel groups that oppose President Bashar al-Assad.
The US and Russia are trying to reach an agreement that would pave the way for a cease-fire in Syria. Secretary of State John Kerry couldn’t bridge differences with Moscow after another hour-long meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday.
Differences remain after Russian negotiators walked back on parts of the deal that the US thought had been agreed to earlier, according to a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
Syria’s conflict, which began in 2011 with peaceful protests, has evolved into a sectarian civil war that has killed over 280,000 people, displaced millions and drawn in regional and international powers.