Syria: Suicide bombing kills 30 in city of Hama

Syrian firemen working at the site of car bombing in the central province of Hama. At least 31 people, including government soldiers, were killed in the bombing that was targeting a security checkpoint (EPA)

A suicide truck bomb attack on a government checkpoint on the edge of the city of Hama in central Syria has left 30 dead, according to state media and activists.

State news agency Sana said Syrian rebels drove the truck laden with over a ton of explosives into the post at the eastern entrance of the city.

Sana said the explosion appeared to have set ablaze a fuel truck nearby, increasing the damage and casualties.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the al-Qa'ida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, or al-Nusra Front, had carried out the attack.

The attack came as Arab League chief Nabil el-Araby said a key international conference aimed at ending Syria's civil war will be held in Geneva on November 23 and 24.

Mr el-Araby made the announcement at a news conference in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after talks with the Arab League-UN envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi.

The Geneva conference is an attempt to get sides to agree on a transitional government in Syria based on a plan adopted in that city in June 2012.

Syria's conflict, now into its third year, has left over 100,000 dead.

PA