Syria Car Bombings Kill 18, Including 11 Children

Syria Car Bomb Blasts Kill 18, Including 11 Children
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BEIRUT, May 2 (Reuters) - Two car bombs in Syria's central province of Hama killed 18 people, including 11 children, and wounded 50 others on Friday, state television said.

It said the "terrorist explosions" took place in the towns of Jibrin, a few miles (km) northeast of Hama city, and al-Hamairi.

They come three days after attacks on government-controlled areas of Homs and Damascus killed more than 100 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

The attacks followed Monday's announcement that President Bashar al-Assad will seek a third term in office in a June 3 election, defying opponents who have demanded he step aside to allow a negotiated solution to Syria's three-year conflict.

(Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Before You Go

Syria War In April
(01 of21)
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A member of the Iraqi security forces looks on during the digging operations to build a trench on the northern Iraqi border with Syria to prevent people from crossing over into Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on April 13, 2014 in Zakho. (SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(02 of21)
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Opposition fighters carry a wounded comrade after he was injured during clashes with government forces in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on April 9, 2014. (MEDO HALAB/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(03 of21)
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An opposition fighter smashes a hole through a wall to be used as a passage between buildings on the front line, during clashes with government forces in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on April 9, 2014. (MEDO HALAB/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(04 of21)
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Opposition fighters run to a new position during clashes with government forces in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on April 9, 2014. (MEDO HALAB/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(05 of21)
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Emergency services spray water on a building following a car bomb explosion in al-Khudary Street, in the Karm al-Loz neighbourhood of the Syrian city of Homs, on April 9, 2014. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(06 of21)
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People and rescuers gather at the scene of a car bomb along al-Khudary Street in the Karm al-Loz neighborhood in the Syrian city of Homs on April 9, 2014. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(07 of21)
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Syrians gather at the scene of a car bomb explosion in al-Khudary Street, in the Karm al-Loz neighbourhood of the Syrian city of Homs, on April 9, 2014. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(08 of21)
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Flames engulf vehicles following a car bomb along al-Khudary Street in the Karm al-Loz neighborhood in the central Syrian city of Homs on April 9, 2014. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(09 of21)
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Members of the Syrian Red Crescent pull carts laden with aid and covered with a sheet showing the logo of the Red Crescent and that of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), towards the rebel controlled Garage al-Hajz checkpoint in the Bustan al-Qasr district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 8, 2014. (BARAA AL-HALABI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(10 of21)
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Members of the Syrian Red Crescent and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) arrive with aid at the rebel controlled Garage al-Hajz checkpoint in the Bustan al-Qasr district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 8, 2014. (BARAA AL-HALABI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(11 of21)
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A rebel fighter looks on as workers from the Syrian Red Crescent arrive with aid at the rebel controlled Garage al-Hajz checkpoint in the Bustan al-Qasr district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 8, 2014. (BARAA AL-HALABI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(12 of21)
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Rebel fighters from the 'Al-Mujahedin The Falcons of Islam' brigade look at a map as they prepare an operation in an area controlled by Syrian government forces in the northern city of Aleppo on April 7, 2014.(BARAA AL-HALABI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(13 of21)
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Syrian girls hold placards bearing a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad in the capital Damascus, on April 7, 2014, during a rally marking the anniversary of the Syrian ruling Baath party. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(14 of21)
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Emergency responders help evacuate a Syrian boy from a residential building reportedly hit by an explosives-filled barrel dropped by a government helicopter in the Shaar neighborhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on April 6, 2014. (KHALED KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(15 of21)
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People gather in an alley that was reportedly hit by an explosives-filled barrel dropped by a government helicopter in the Shaar neighborhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on April 6, 2014. (ZEIN AL-RIFAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(16 of21)
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A woman is assisted to walk through the rubble of buildings following a reported air strike by Syrian government forces in the al-Sakhour district of the northern city of Aleppo on April 4, 2014. (Fadi al-Halabi/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(17 of21)
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A rebel fighter from the Ansar al-Sham brigade stands on a ridge overlooking the Mediterranean sea, reportedly in the village of Kasab, in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia, on April 4, 2014. (Ali Nasser/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(18 of21)
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Rebel fighters from the Ansar al-Sham brigade stand in front of an Armenian church, reportedly in the village of Kasab, in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia, on April 4, 2014. (Ali Nasser/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(19 of21)
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A rebel fighter from the Ansar al-Sham brigade stands on a ridge overlooking the Mediterranean sea, reportedly in the village of Kasab, in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia, on April 4, 2014. (Ali Nasser/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(20 of21)
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A Syrian youth walks near smoke and flames rising from a vehicle in a damaged street following a reported airstrike by government forces on April 4, 2014 on the Shaar neighborhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. (BARAA AL-HALABI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(21 of21)
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Syrians stand next to a heavily damaged building following a reported air strike by government forces on April 3, 2014 in the northern city of Aleppo. (ZEIN AL-RIFAI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)