1 killed, 30 injured in car bomb blast in central Syria

A booby-trapped car went off Thursday near a compound in the country's central province of Homs, leaving one person killed and 30 others injured, local media said. The blast hit an area close to a residential compound in the Ekrima district in Homs, the report said, adding that at least one person was killed and 30 others wounded. Another pro-government media said that the blast at Ekrima was caused by two explosive-laded cars. Violence has intensified in Syria recently in what some observers described as the escalation before pacification that is expected after the international community declared support to the political solution to Syria's long-standing conflict. A recent UN tally placed the overall death toll of Syria's 23- month conflict at more than 70,000.