Homs

At least eight people were killed and 18 others wounded after an explosion tore through a mosque in the central Syrian city of Homs during Friday prayers, Syrian health officials said.

The blast struck the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood, an area largely inhabited by members of the Alawite community. Emergency responders rushed the injured to nearby hospitals as security forces sealed off the area and began an investigation.

The attack is the latest in a series of sectarian incidents that have unsettled Syria following the collapse of the Assad government last year.

Syria’s …