The Islamic State group said it was behind a deadly attack in the central Syrian city of Homs on Saturday that killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens more.

"Abu Ahmed al-Homsi parked his car in the Zahra neighbourhood and exploded it among the 'rafidis' before detonating his explosives belt," an IS statement said, using a derogatory term for Shiites.

The statement said the twin blasts in a pro-regime area of the city killed more than 25 people and wounded 70. Earlier, the provincial governor and a monitoring group said 16 people died and 54 were wounded, speaking of a single explosion.