February 21
08:48
2016
A string of suicide bombings near a Shiite shrine outside Syria's capital and in Homs claimed by jihadists killed more than 150 people, as Washington and Moscow worked to secure a ceasefire. The Islamic State group said it was behind the carnage. US Secretary of State John Kerry said a provisional deal had been reached on the terms of a truce in Syria's brutal five-year conflict, only for the bloodshed to intensify on the ground.