A Syrian man carries a carpet through a devastated part of the town of Palmyra on April 14, 2016, as families load their belongings onto buses in Homs province, Syria.
A Syrian man carries a carpet through a devastated part of the town of Palmyra on April 14, 2016, as families load their belongings onto buses in Homs province, Syria. Credit: AP File

In synchronized attacks, insurgents stormed into heavily guarded security offices in Syria’s central Homs city, clashed with troops and then blew themselves up, killing a senior officer and at least 31 others, state media and officials reported.

The attacks against the military intelligence and state security offices were claimed by an al-Qaida-linked insurgent coalition known as the Levant Liberation Committee.

The government responded with an intense airstrike campaign against the only neighborhood on the city’s outskirts still under opposition control, al-Waer.

The attack was the most high-profile in a city that has been the scene of repeated suicide attacks since the government regained control.

Homs Province Governor Talal Barzani said the three blasts in total killed more than 32 people, including the head of military intelligence services Maj. Gen. Hassan Daeboul.

Before Homs, Daeboul managed a military intelligence unit believed responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses.

Syrian opposition activists took to social media after the attacks, recounting stories of torture and abuse for which Daeboul was allegedly responsible.

Supporters hailed him as one of the country’s best security officers, who “broke the back of the terrorists,” a pro-government Facebook page posted.