Seven killed in Syria blast

Damascus, July 27 (IANS) At least seven people were killed and 20 others wounded Sunday when a bomb-laden vehicle blew up in Syria's central Homs province, media reports said.

A booby-trapped pick-up van exploded in the main street in al-Arman district, Xinhua reported citing state news agency SANA.

The blast caused huge losses to houses, shops and cars in the neighbourhood.

Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not immediately clear whether the blast was a result of the booby-trapped vehicle or caused by a rocket launched on that district.

The district is home to Alawite minorities, an offshoot of Shia Islam to whom Syria's ruling elite belongs.

The blast follows Saturday's recapture of the al-Shaer gas field in Homs by Syrian troops after a clash with militants of the Islamic State outfit.