Fourteen killed in Syria car bombing

A car bomb that exploded outside a Syrian mosque as worshippers were leaving has killed at least 14 people.

A powerful car bomb has exploded outside a mosque in a pro-government district of central Syria, killing 14 peoples, state-run Syrian television reported.

The bombing occurred as worshippers left the Bilal al-Habshi mosque on the edge of Akrama after attending Friday prayers, the report said.

The area, populated mainly by Alawites, members of President Bashar Assad's minority sect, has repeatedly been targeted by car bombs in recent months.

The Syrian Observatory for Human rights said the explosion killed at least nine people, adding that the number likely would rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition.

The attack coincides with a crushing offensive by government forces aimed at retaking the last rebel bastions in the historic quarters of the old city of Homs.

The last few days has seen some of the fiercest fighting there in months.

Activists say more than 150,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since it began in March 2011 with largely peaceful protests calling for Assad's ouster.