Syria Bombings Kill Dozens of Children

Dozens of people were killed, the vast majority of them children, when two suicide bombings rocked a pair of elementary schools in the Syrian city of Homs. The blasts occurred at schools in Akrama, a government-held part of the embattled city. The death toll has climbed to 39, with at least 30 children between the ages of 6 and 9 killed, according to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Many other people were injured in the blasts, state media reported. A representative in Syria for the United Nations Children Fund labeled the attacks “a despicable act against innocent children” and Homs Governor Talal Barazi denounced the tragedy as “a terrorist act and desperate attempt that targeted schoolchildren.”