Turmoil in Syria on the eve of controversial presidential elections

At least 10 people have been killed in a car bombing in a village in the city of Homs Monday on the eve of presidential elections, the Syrian television reported.

The Syrian official television channel quoted a security source as saying that the bombing led to the death of at least ten civilians, and huge damage to nearby houses.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, eight civilians have been killed and 12 other injured, including elements from the pro-Assad defence forces. It added that the Haraki village where the bombing took place has a majority Alawi population.

Homs has witnessed a series of bombings in recent weeks in pro-Assad neighbourhoods, the rights group added.

On Saturday and Sunday, at least 50 people have been killed, including 9 children, in the northern city of Halab.

Director of the Syrian Observatory stressed that the escalation of attacks on places controlled by the regime is linked to the presidential elections. However, he considered the killing of civilians as a war crime that has no justification.

Eastern provinces controlled by the opposition have been subjected to intensive air strikes since the beginning of 2014, which led to the death of at least 2,000 civilians.

Presidential elections are scheduled to be held today in Syria, and it expected to extend Assad’s presidency for another seven-year term.

Syrian opposition and a number of its western allies have dismissed the elections as a “farce”, particularly that it comes in the midst of a bloody conflict that claimed the lives of over 162,000 Syrians since March 2011.