DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) – The Latest on a violent day in the Middle East, with deadly bombings in Syria and Yemen and the start of an Iraqi government offensive to retake the city of Fallujah from the Islamic State group (all times local):
12 p.m.
Syrian state TV says at least 65 people were killed in a series of explosions, including suicide bombings, in the coastal cities of Tartus and Jableh, strongholds of President Bashar Assad.
The TV reports said at least one suicide bomber followed by a car bomb blew up minutes apart in a packed bus station in Tartus. More than 20 were killed and many injured in the bombings, an Interior Ministry official told the channel.
Separately, Syria’s SANA state news agency and the state TV said four explosions rocked Jableh, south of Latakia city. The attacks included three rockets, and a suicide bomber at a city hospital, the state media said.