DAMASCUS: A car bomb killed six people, three of them children, and wounded 37 others in the central Syrian province of Homs on Monday, state-run SANA news agency reported.

It said “terrorists” -- the official tag for rebels fighting to topple the regime -- blew up the explosives-rigged vehicle at the entrance to the town of Thabitiyeh.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on reports from medics and activists on the ground, gave a toll of five killed and 40 wounded in the attack.

Thabitiyeh is located east of Homs, which has seen some of the worst battles of the 31-month war between rebels and troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that Thabitiyeh residents are mainly Shia Muslims, unlike the mostly Sunni Muslims battling to topple Assad.

SANA said the blast caused massive damage to homes in the town.

The war in Syria has killed more than 120,000 people, according to the Observatory, and the United Nations says it has forced millions to flee their